[•lib] 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




DDG031fi2fc,2T 



^ ••• aV 1 <> **•** <G^ \b vrfiT* j\ 







-.*. •'■■ A" <Pu 



S aV^ O *"* 

4* *Jfitf%?*J~ V^ . ° 



^a. fV o * « « **U A> 



tor. ^ ^ -va^ • % « <*^r& ° ^ ^ 



^0 ^ 






Ay ^ 

J> site. ^ 




0.. 'MR.' ,0 ,^,- w . ^ ^ 





%***** ■ 




*> 



e n 



v ^, r ./%. '"ISP.*" ** v % ; «?M?** J" 

V* • * & ^L» 4 * • * \S <* 




•\^> 







r oV 












SHAKE SPE ABE 

The Droeshout Engraving Memorial Painting 

The D'Avenant Bust 
The Chandos Portrait The Stratford Bust 



JULIUS CAESAR 



A Tragedy 



By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 



EDITED, WITH NOTES 

BY 

EDWIN L. MILLER, A.M. 

PRINCIPAL OF THE DETROIT NORTHWESTERN HIGH SCHOOL 
AND 

EVA MAY KINNEY, A.B. 

INSTRUCTOR IN ENGLISH, IBID 



LYONS & CARNAHAN 

CHICAGO N EW YORK 



t<> % 






COPYEIGHT - 1915 
LYONS & CASNAHAN 



AUG 20 1915 

©CI.A411ie2 



CONTENTS 

Introduction page 
I. Life and Works of William Shakespeare 7 

II. Julius Caesar, History and Theme. 

Date of Composition and Publication 9 

Sources of the Play 9 

Theme of the Play 10 

III. The Characters of the Play 12 

IV. The Psychology of Dramatization. 13 

V. Julius Caesar on the High School Stage 15 

VI. Suggestions for Acting a Type Scene (Act IV, 

Scene 3) 16 

Julius Caesar 23 

Explanatory Notes and Comments 123 

Questions on the Play . . . „ 139 



INTRODUCTION 

I 

The Life and Works op William Shakespeare 

Authentic information concerning the life of 
Shakespeare is decidedly meager; but perhaps we 
voice the real significance of his life and dramatic 
achievement if with DeQnincey we say that he lived 
and that he died, and that he was a little lower 
than the angels. It matters little when, where, 
why, or by whom the plays were written; the all- 
important fact for us is that the plays themselves 
form a glorious portion of our literary heritage. 

The greatest of dramatists was born at Strat- 
ford-on-Avon, in the county of Warwick, England, 
in 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a pros- 
perous tradesman and a citizen of such consequence 
that he finally secured the office of high bailiff or 
mayor of Stratford in 1564. His mother, Mary 
Arden, belonged to a good old Warwickshire fam- 
ily. It was probable that Shakespeare was sent to 
the free Grammar School at Stratford and there 
received all the regular schooling he ever had. 
Even in later life he never became a great scholar 
or bookish man; he read men instead, and so be- 
came a powerful interpreter of human character. 
In 1582, when he was only eighteen, he married 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION 

Anne Hathaway, a woman eight years his senior. 
It was very likely with a view to seeking his for- 
tune that in 1586 he went to London, where he 
began his career as an actor. In this profession he 
won little fame; but he soon gained distinction as 
a playwright. The financial prosperity which ac- 
companied his literary successes enabled him to 
purchase New Place, the largest house in Stratford, 
for, in spite of the honors bestowed upon him in 
London, he still regarded Stratford as his home. 
In 1611, therefore, he settled down in his native 
town to spend his declining, years in peaceful re- 
tirement, and there he died, April 23, 1616. 

Shakespeare's literary life may be divided into 
four periods as follows: 

I. The period of apprenticeship, before Shakes- 

peare had reached his full power. In this 
period belong King Henry VI, Parts I, II, 
III; Titus Andronicus; Love's Labor Lost; 
The Comedy of Errors ; The Two Gentlemen 
of Verona; A Midsummer Night's Dream; 
Romeo and Juliet ; Richard II ; Richard III ; 
King John. 

II. The period of great histories and sunny com- 

edies. The Merchant of Venice ; The Tam- 
ing of the Shrew; King Henry IV, Parts 
I »and II ; King Henry V ; Twelfth Night ; 
Much Ado About Nothing; Merry Wives of 
Windsor; As You Like It; All's Well That 
Ends Well; Troilus and Cressida; Measure 
for Measure. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

III. The period of the great tragedies. Julius 

Caesar; Hamlet; Macbeth; King Lear; 
Othello; Antony and Cleopatra; Timon of 
Athens; Coriolanus. 

IV. The period of romances. Cymbeline ; A Win- 

ter's Tale; The Tempest; Pericles; King 
Henry VIII. 

II 

Julius Caesar 

I. Date of Composition and Publication. 

Critics vary as to the date of composition, set- 
ting it between 1599 and 1608. The period 1599 
to 1601 is accepted by many as the probable time 
of composition. The play was first published in 
the Folio of 1623 (the first collection of Shakes- 
peare's plays), where it occupied pages 109-130 in 
the division of Tragedies. 

II. Sources of the Play. 

Shakespeare apparently drew most of his mate- 
rial from Sir Thomas North's translation of Plu- 
tarch's Lives, published in 1595 under the title, The 
Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans. However, 
although Shakespeare undoubtedly built up his 
plot from incidents related in North's Plutarch, he 
did not confine himself strictly to the types of char- 
acter there presented. For instance, North's Plu- 
tarch represents Caesar as a highly noble and ad- 



10 INTRODUCTION 

mirable character, strikingly different from the 
vain and arrogant Caesar of Shakespeare's trag- 
edy. Nor did Shakespeare hesitate to suit time to 
action, regardless of chronology. As a matter of 
fact, three weeks intervened between the first en- 
counter at Philippi and the death of Brutus. The 
poet, however, for dramatic reasons, compressed 
these incidents into the space of one day. 

III. Theme of the Play. 

"The triumph of Caesarism" might be called the 
theme of the play, for, although Caesar the man is 
overthrown and disappears from the play at the 
beginning of the third act, still his spirit, more po- 
tent after death, is the unseen presence that domi- 
nates the action until the catastrophe. Championed 
by the people of Rome, the spirit of imperialism 
inevitably conquers the conspirators. Thus it is 
that, although Brutus is the more attractive figure, 
Caesar is the dominant force. The sympathies of 
the ordinary reader are drawn to the character of 
Brutus, and his interest is bound to follow closely 
the conflict between Brutus ' love of country and his 
personal regard for Caesar; his decision to sacri- 
fice Caesar on the altar of patriotism ; and finally 
his tragic death. But nevertheless, Caesar, whether 
alive or dead, holds the real center of the stage and 
is the triumphant force. Therefore the play is 
rightly called Julius Caesar. 






Time. The time of the opening of the play is 44 B. C. ; 
Caesar 's assassination was on the Ides of March of that year. 




JULIUS CAESAR 



12 INTRODUCTION 

III 

The Characters op the Play 

Brutus is morally sound but intellectually defi- 
cient. He thinks, but does not think far or fast 
enough. In spite of the purity of his motives and 
his scholarly habits, in mental stature he is infe- 
rior not only to Antony, Caesar, and Octavius, but 
even to Cassius. At the beginning of the play, he 
is the one piece of sound old-fashioned Roman man- 
hood unsubmerged by the rising flood of degen- 
eracy that has overflowed the republic; at the end 
the deluge is complete. The pathos of his situa- 
tion is overwhelming, because he stands so utterly 
alone. 

Like Hamlet, he is in a situation that is out of 
joint. He tries to set it right but cannot. His 
well-meant but ill-judged efforts, like those of nu- 
merous modern reformers, result only in making 
bad worse. He can act effectively with Cassius no 
more than fire can mix with water. The unnatural 
alliance ruins both. Their efforts to reform the 
Roman state remind one of a clergyman and a high- 
wayman combining to mend a watch. Their plot 
results only in substituting for. Julius Caesar the 
less noble Antony and the less experienced Augus- 
tus, and in plunging the nation into civil war. It 
does not alter the final result. As D 'Israeli says, 
assassination has never changed the course of his- 
tory. 

Shakespeare's Caesar is not the great man of 
history. It was not the dramatist's place or pur- 



INTRODUCTION 13 

pose to represent him as he was, but as he appeared 
to his enemies. To them he seems peevish, arro- 
gant, weak. In reality he is the manifestation of 
an irresistible tendency that has its roots deep in 
Roman life. 

IV 

The Psychology of Dramatization 

The keen observer of children, especially in their 
unhampered play-life, must come to the conclu- 
sion that no game is more entrancing and absorb- 
ing than the game of "pretend." The greatest 
interpreters of child life have always taken this 
truth into account in their portrayals of children. 
Frances Hodgson Burnett, for example, has given 
us the appealing and natural characterization of 
Sara Crewe, a little London waif, who, in spite of 
the abuse and insults heaped upon her by the un- 
feeling Misses Minchin, and in spite of the dis- 
comfort and dreariness of her lonely garret, went 
on "pretending" to the end of the story. The 
following quotation is illustrative : 

"One of her chief entertainments was to sit in 
her garret, or walk about it, and 'suppose' things. 
On a cold night, when she had not had enough to 
eat, she would draw the red footstool up before the 
empty grate, and say in the most intense voice : 

" 'Suppose there was a great, wide steel grate 
here, and a great glowing fire — a glowing fire — 
with beds of red-hot coal and lots of dancing, flick- 
ering flames. Suppose there was a soft, deep rug, 
and this was a comfortable chair, all cushions and 



14 INTRODUCTION 

crimson velvet : and suppose I had a crimson velvet 
frock on, and a deep lace collar, like a child in a 
picture ; and suppose all the rest of the room was 
furnished in lovely colors, and there were book- 
shelves full of books, which changed by magic as 
soon as you had read them ; and suppose there was 
a little table here, with a snow-white cover on it, 
and little silver dishes, and in one there was hot, 
hot soup, and in another a roast chicken, and in 
another some raspberry- jam tarts with criss-cross 
on them, and in another some grapes ; and suppose 
Emily [her doll] could speak, and we could sit and 
eat our supper, and then talk and read; and then 
suppose there was a soft, warm bed in the corner, 
and when we were tired we could go to sleep, and 
sleep as long as we liked.' " 

The poet Robert Louis Stevenson recognizes also 
the part that imagination plays in child life. In 
his delightful little volume, A Child's Garden of 
Verses, we find one entitled ' ' Pirate Story " : — 

"Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing, * 

Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea. 

Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring, 
'And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are 
at sea. 

"Where shall we adventure, today that we're afloat, 
Wary of the weather and steering by a star? 

Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat, 
To Providence, or Babylon, or off to Malabar? 

Hi ! but here 's a squadron a-rowing on the sea — 
Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar! 

Quick, and we '11 escape them, they 're as mad as they can be, 
The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore." 



INTRODUCTION 15 

This innate love of the dramatic is an element in 
the child's nature which must be recognized and 
satisfied. 

In his school life, too, the pupil craves the oppor- 
tunity to "play a part." Personal experience has 
proved that there is no class exercise in English 
which makes a wider appeal to the students ' inter- 
est than the presentation of some dramatic sketch. 

Aside from the fact that dramatic work gratifies 
the student's natural desire to act a part, it is fur- 
ther justified for the reason that such perform- 
ances afford the finest sort of training in public 
speaking, the primary objects of which are to de- 
velop self-control, natural grace, and effectiveness 
in speech. Therefore dramatic work in the class- 
room is both psychological and pedagogical. 



Julius Caesar on the High School Stage 

This play is admirably adapted to high school 
production. In the first place, its diction is remark- 
ably clear and simple, there being fewer textual 
obscurities than in any other Shakespearian play. 
For classes or larger groups of boys it is especially 
adaptable. The introduction of the Roman mob 
and the contending martial forces affords an oppor- 
tunity for many boys to take an active part; the 
play is full of real action as well as mental con- 
flict, and the high school boy delights in action; 
and, finally, every act provides a magnificent strug- 



16 INTRODUCTION 

gle of one sort or another, and what is more inter- 
esting to a boy than to watch a contest, except to 
participate in one? What a variety of conflicts 
this play presents! Act I stages the struggle be- 
tween plebeians and patricians; Caesar's struggle 
with personal ambition; Cassius striving to win 
Brutus. In Act II we find a series of mental 
combats: Brutus' patriotism struggling with his 
love for Caesar; Brutus' conflict with Portia; 
Caesar's conflict with Calpurnia; Caesar's contest 
with Decius; Portia's struggle with her own fears. 
Act III first shows Caesar in conflict with the con- 
spirators; then Antony matching his oratory 
against that of Brutus, and his wit against the 
ignorance of the mob. Act IV shows Antony in 
conflict with Octavius, and Cassius and Brutus 
engaged in a bitter quarrel. Act V brings the 
fortunes of the opposing parties to a final test in 
the battles which result in the defeat of Brutus, 
and his suicide. 



VI 

Suggestions for Acting a Type Scene 

AcflV, Scene 3 

This scene is admirable for class work and rich 
in the variety of incidents and emotions. It may 
be made vividly impressive if careful attention is 
paid to the following points: the varied intona- 
tions of voice and angry gestures accompanying the 



INTRODUCTION 17 

quarrel; Cassius baring his breast for Brutus to 
strike ; the touching reconcilation ; the interrup- 
tion of the poet ; the revelation of Portia 's death ; 
the entrance of Lucius with wine and taper; the 
suppressed emotion during the conference with 
Messala; the fine feeling of fraternity shown in 
the good-night scene ; the entrance of Lucius with 
the gown; Lucius falling asleep over his instru- 
ment ; Brutus, weary and disheartened, turning to 
his book for respite from his bitter and sorrowful 
thoughts; the waning candle light; and the terri- 
fying ghost of the dead Caesar uttering its mourn- 
ful prophecy. 
» 

I. Study the Scene 

After the teacher has assigned the parts accord- 
ing to his best judgment and before there is any 
attempt to act it, there should be a detailed and 
intensive study of the scene. The pupils will be 
glad to interpret the scene in this way if they know 
that such analysis is the stepping-stone to dramatic 
presentation. 

The notes, comments, and questions in this edi- 
tion have been selected and formulated with the 
prime purpose of bringing out the dramatic values 
of the incidents and guiding the student to a truth- 
ful estimate of the characters. Therefore a careful 
study of notes and questions is the first step pre- 
paratory to acting the scene, for no one can success- 
fully portray an incident or character which he 
does not understand. 



18 INTRODUCTION 

II. Speak Deliberately 

Rapid reading has two ill effects : it gives the 
impression that your understanding of the passage 
is shallow and superficial; it results in a number 
of stumblings and errors in enunciation that utterly 
destroy the phonetic beauty of the poetry. On the 
other hand, the reader should not dwell unduly on 
every word, but rather he should study the effect 
of judicious pausing. Having mastered the mean- 
ing, he will know instinctively where and how long 
to pause. Refer to the note on Act II, Scene 1, 
line 184, for the value of one particular pause. 

Study the following line (157) from our type 
scene : — 

Brutus. Speak no more of heiv — Give me a bowl of wine. 

The failure to pause after the first statement in 
this line would represent Brutus as an utterly 
heartless husband, even ready, it would seem, to 
drink in celebration of Portia's death. On the 
other hand, a skillful pause at the point in question 
would represent Brutus in a heartbreaking strug- 
gle with a sorrow too deep and harrowing to be 
flaunted in public. 

Study your part, then, with the special purpose 
of finding significant pauses. 

Class Exercise. Let several students read aloud 
in turn the speech of Cassius (92-106), each trying 
to express the spirit of the lines by observing cer- 
tain pauses, and reading with proper emphasis and 
deliberation. The rest of the class may act as 
critics and decide which reading is most effective. 



INTRODUCTION 19 

III. Speak Distinctly 

In order to convey the message of the lines to 
the audience you must attend carefully to the clear 
enunciation of words. Each syllable must be given 
its separate value, and especial care should be 
taken to voice the terminating syllables. Be sure 
to speak the final words in a sentence as clearly 
as any of the others. 

Class Exercise. Let several members of the class 
read in turn Brutus' speech (18-28) with the con- 
scious effort to enunciate clearly, separating the 
words carefully and bringing out clearly the final 
words in each thought-division. Endeavor to con- 
vey ideas to your listeners by a natural moderate 
tone and distinct enunciation rather than by a loud 
voice. As before, let the class criticise the reading. 

IV. Observe the Dramatic Value of Climax 

Shakespeare knew well that, without climax, 
sentences, speeches, scenes, acts, or plays would 
lack dramatic power. Therefore in order to render 
his lines well you must observe the fine climaxes 
he provides. Having noted the point of climax in 
a speech, the student should read it in a way 
that will indicate the gradual rise in feeling or 
intensity. 

Class Exercise. Let several students read 
Brutus' speech (65-82) to see which can best 
express the climax by a gradually increasing 
earnestness of tone. 



20 INTRODUCTION 



V. Read with Expression 

It is said that when Sarah Bernhardt, the great 
French actress, was to undertake a new role, she 
lived in the part for days, weeks, and months be- 
fore she acted it. Like little Sara Crewe, she kept 
on "pretending" and assuming the new person- 
ality until it was second nature to act it realis- 
tically. In acting a part, assume to be the character 
you represent. In order to express an emotion you 
must try to feel the emotion. Instead of wonder- 
ing how you look on the stage, how your voice 
sounds, or how you are to manage your hands and 
feet, forget yourself as completely as possible and 
devote every energy, physical and mental, to the 
purpose of picturing to your audience the charac- 
ter you represent. 

The best guide to a vivid portrayal of character 
or incident is to see mentally what is taking place. 
For example, if the boy reading Brutus ' speech 
(151-155) pictures to himself the impatient loneli- 
ness and grief of Portia, and the final distraction 
resulting in her tragic death, will he not express 
more feelingly the repressed sorrow of Brutus ? 

Cultivate this power to visualize what you are 
reading and not only will you express the charac- 
ter and action with finer and deeper feeling, but 
the proper gestures and facial expressions will 
suggest themselves, and natural grace will, with- 
out conscious effort on your part, take the place 
of mechanical or awkward gestures. Therefore see 






INTRODUCTION 21 

vividly yourself whatever you wish your audience 
to see. 

If the class studies any scene by the five methods 
here outlined for Act IV, Scene 3, they will 
undoubtedly grasp the dramatic values of the 
speeches and be thoroughly prepared to render 
them on the high school stage with intelligence 
and spirit. The amount of analysis necessary must 
depend, of course, upon the mental calibre of the 
class. 

Finally, let all youthful actors remember Ham- 
let 's sage advice to players : — 

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, 
trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of 
your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. 
Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but 
use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I 
may say, whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget 
a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it offends 
me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow 
tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of 
the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of 
nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would 
have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant; it 
out-herods Herod; pray you, avoid it. 

Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be 
your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the 
action; with the special observance, that you o'erstep not 
the modesty of nature: for anything so overdone is from 
the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and 
now, was and is, to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature ; 
to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and 
the very age and body of the time his form and pressure. 



22 



INTRODUCTION 



DEAMATIS PERSONS 



triumvirs after the death of Julius Caesar. 



senators. 



>-consoirators against Julius Caesar. 



Julius Caesar,, 
Octavius Caesar, 
Marcus Antonius., 
M. iE.MILIUS Lepidus, 

CICERO; 

PUBLIUS, 

popilius lena, 
Marcus Brutus., 
Cassius, 
Casca., 
Trebonius., 

LlGARIUS; 

Decius Brutus, 
Metellus ClMBER; 
ClNNAj 

Flavius and Marullus., tribunes. 
Artemidorus of Cnidos, a teacher of rhetoric 
A Soothsayer. 
Cinna, a poet. Another poet. 

LUCILIUSj 
TlTINIUSj 

Messala, 
Young Cato., 
volumnius, 
Vakro, 

CLITUSj 
CLAUDIUS; 

STRATO, 

LUC I US; 

DARDANIUS; 

Pindarus, servant to Cassius 



friends to Brutus and Cassius. 



^-servants .to Brutus. 



Calpurnia, wife to Caesar. 
Portia, wife to Brutus. 

Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attendants, &c. 

Scene : Rome ; the neighborhood of Sardis ; the neighborhood of 

Philippi. 






THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR 

ACT I 

Scene I. Rome. A street. 

Enter Flavius, Marullus, and certain 
Commoners. 

Flav. Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you 
home : 
Is this a holiday ? what ! know you not, 
Being mechanical, you ought not walk 
Upon a laboring day without the sign 
Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou? 6 

First Com. Why, sir, a carpenter. 

Mar. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule ? 
What dost thou with thy best apparel on ? 
You, sir, what trade are you ? 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine work- 
man, 10 
I am but, as you would say, a cobbler. 

Mar. But what trade art thou? answer me 
directly. 

Sec. Com. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use 
with a safe conscience; which is indeed, sir, a 
mender of bad soles. 15 

Mar. What trade, thou knave? thou naughty 
knave, what trade ? 

23 



24 JULIUS CAESAE [Act I 

Sec. Com. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out 
with me : yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. 
20 Mar. What mean'st thou by that? mend me, 
thou saucy fellow ! 

Sec. Com. Why, sir, cobble you. 
Flav. Thou art a cobbler, art thou? 
Sec. Com. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with 
25 the awl : I meddle with no tradesman 's matters, 
nor women's matters, but with awl. I am indeed, 
sir, a surgeon to old shoes ; when they are in great 
danger, I re-cover them. As proper men as ever 
trod upon neat's leather have gone upon my handi- 
30 work. 

Flav. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day ? 

Why dost thou lead these men about the streets? 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, 

to get myself into more work. But, indeed, sir, we 

35 make holiday, to see Caesar and to rejoice in his 

triumph. 

Mar. Wherefore rejoice ? What conquest brings 
he home? 
What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels ? 
40 You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless 
things ! 
you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, 
Knew you not Pompey ? Many a time and oft 
Have you climb 'd up to walls and battlements, 
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, 
45 Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 
The live-long day with patient expectation 
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAK 25 

And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
Have you not made an universal shout, 
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks 50 

To hear the replication of your sounds 
Made in her concave shores? 
And do you now put on your best attire ? 
And do you now cull out a holiday ? 
And do you now strew flowers in his way 55 

That comes in triumph over Pompey 's blood ? 
Be gone ! 

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, 
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague 
That needs must light on this ingratitude. 60 

Flav. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this 
fault, 
Assemble all the poor men of your sort ; 
Draw them to Tiber banks and weep your tears 
Into the channel, till the lowest stream 
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all. 65 

[Exeunt all the Commoners. 
See, whether their basest metal be not moved ; 
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. 
Go you down that way towards the Capitol ; 
This way will I : disrobe the images, 
If you do find them deck 'd with ceremonies. 10 

Mar. May we do so ? 
You know it is the feast of Lupercal. 

Flav. It is no matter; let no images 
Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I'll about, 
And drive away the vulgar from the streets : 75 

So do you too, where you perceive them thick. 



26 JULIUS CAESAR [Act I 

These growing feathers pluck 'd from Caesar's 

wing 
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, 
Who else would soar above the view of men 
so And keep us all in servile fearfulness. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. A public place. 

Flourish. Enter Caesar ; Antony, for the course; 
Calpurnia, Portia, Decius, Cicero, Brutus, 
Cassius, and Casca; a great crowd following, 
among them a Soothsayer. 

Caes. Calpurnia ! 

Casca. Peace, ho ! Caesar speaks. 

[Music ceases.. 
Caes. Calpurnia ! 

Cal. Here, my lord. 

Caes. Stand you directly in Antonius' way, 
When he doth run his course. Antonius ! 
5 Ant . Caesar, my lord ¥ 

Caes. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, 
To touch Calpurnia ; for our elders say, 
The barren, touched in this holy chase, 
Shake off their sterile curse. 

Ant. I shall remember : 

10 When Caesar says t do this, ' it is perform 'd. 
Caes. Set on, and leave no ceremony out. 

[Flourish. 
Sooth. Caesar ! 
Caes. Ha ! who calls ? 

Casca. Bid every noise be still : peace yet again ! 
is Caes. Who is it in the press that calls on me ? 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAR 27 

I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, 
Cry ' Caesar.' Speak; Caesar is turn 'd to hear. 

Sooth. Beware the ides of March. 

Caes. What man is that? 

Bru. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of 
March. 

Caes. Set him before me ; let me see his face. 20 

Cassias. Fellow, come from the throng; look 
upon Caesar. 

Caes: What say'st thou to me now? speak once 
again. 

Sooth. Beware the ides of March. 

Caes. He is a dreamer ; let us leave him : pass. 
[Sennet. Exeunt all hut Brutus and Cassius. 

Cas. Will you go see the order of the course f 25 

Bru. Not I. 

Cas. I pray you, do. 

Bru. I am not gamesome : I do lack some part 
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. 
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires ; 30 

I '11 leave you. 

Cas. Brutus, I do observe you now of late : 
I have not from your eyes that gentleness 
And show of love as I was wont to have : 
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 35 

Over your friend that loves you. 

Bru. Cassius, 

Be not deceived : if I have veil 'd my look, 
I turn the trouble of my countenance 
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am 
Of late with passions of some difference, 40 

Conceptions only proper to myself, 



28 JULIUS CAESAE [Act I 

Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors ; 
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved — 
Among which number, Cassius, be you one — 
45 Nor construe any further my neglect 

Than that poor Brutus with himself at war 
Forgets the shows of love to other men. 

Cas. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your 
passion; 
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried 
50 Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. 
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face ? 

Bru. No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself 
But by reflection, by some other things. 
Cas. 'Tis just : 
55 And it is very much lamented, Brutus, 
That you have no such mirrors as will turn 
Your hidden worthiness into your eye, 
That you might see your shadow. I have heard 
Where many of the best respect in Rome, 
60 Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus, 
And groaning underneath this age's yoke, 
Have wish 'd that noble Brutus had his eyes. 
Bru. Into what dangers would you lead me, 
Cassius, 
That you would have me seek into myself 
65 For that which is not in me 1 

Cas. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to 
hear: 
And since you know you cannot see yourself 
So well as by reflection, I your glass 
Will modestly discover to yourself 
70 That of yourself which you yet know not of. 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAE 29 

And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus : 

Were I a common laugher, or did use 

To stale with ordinary oaths my love 

To every new protester; if you know 

That I do fawn on men and hug them hard, 75 

And after scandal them ; or if you know 

That I profess myself in banqueting 

To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. 

[Flourish and shout. 

Bru. What means this shouting ? I do fear, the 
people 
Choose Caesar for their king. 

Cas. Ay, do you fear it ? so 

Then must I think you would not have it so. 

Bru. I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well. 
But wherefore do you hold me here so long ? 
What is it that you would impart to me ! 
If it be aught toward the general good, 85 

Set honor in one eye and death i' the other, 
And I will look on both indifferently : 
For let the gods so speed me as I love 
The name of honor more than I fear death. 

Cas. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 90 
As well as I do know your outward favor. 
Well, honor is the subject of my story. 
I cannot tell what you and other men 
Think of this life, but, for my single self, 
I had as lief not be as live to be 95 

In awe of such a thing as I myself. 
I was born free as Caesar ; so were you : 
We both have fed as well, and we can both 
Endure the winter 's cold as well as he : 



30 JULIUS CAESAB [Act I 

100 For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 

The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, 
Caesar said to me, 'Darest thou, Cassius, now 
Leap in with me into this angry flood, 
And swim to yonder point ? Upon the word, 

105 Accoutred as I was, I plunged in 

And bade him follow : so indeed he did. 
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it 
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside 
And stemming it with hearts of controversy ; 

no But ere we could arrive the point proposed, 
Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!' 
I, as JEneas our great ancestor 
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber 

us Did I the tired Caesar : and this man 
Is now become a god, and Cassius is 
A wretched creature, and must bend his body 
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. 
He had a fever when he was in Spain, 

120 And when the fit was on him, I did mark 

How he did shake : 'tis true, this god did shake ; 
His coward lips did from their color fly, 
And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world 
Did lose his lustre : I did hear him groan • 

125 Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans 
Mark him and write his speeches in their books, 
Alas, it cried, ' Give me some drink, Titinius, ' 
As a sick girl. Ye gods ! it doth amaze me 
A man of such a feeble temper should 

130 So get the start of the majestic world 

And bear the palm alone. [Shout. Flourish. 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAK 31 

Bru. Another general shout ! 
I do believe that these applauses are 
For some new honors that are heap 'd on Caesar. 

Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow 

world 135 

Like a Colossus, and we petty men 
Walk under his huge legs and peep about 
To find ourselves dishonorable graves. 
Men at some time are masters of their fates : 
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, ho 

But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 
Brutus, and Caesar : what should be in that Caesar ? 
Why should that name be sounded more than yours ? 
Write them together, yours is as fair a name ; 
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well ; 145 

Weigh them, it is as heavy ; conjure with 'em, 
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar. 
Now, in the names of all the gods at once, 
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, 
That he is grown so great ? Age, thou art shamed ! uo 
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods ! 
When went there by an age, since the great flood, 
But it was famed with more than with one man ? 
When could they say till now that talk 'd of Rome 
That her wide walls encompass 'd but one man? 155 
Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough 
When there is in it but one only man. 
0, you and I have heard our fathers say 
There was a Brutus once that would have brook 'd 
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome wo 

As easily as a king. 

Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ; 



32 JULIUS CAESAR [Act I 

What you would work me to, I have some aim; 
How I have thought of this and of these times, 
165 I shall recount hereafter; for this present, 
I would not, so with love I might entreat you, 
Be any further moved. "What you have said 
I will consider ; what you have to say 
I will with patience hear, and find a time 
no Both meet to hear and answer such high things. 
Till then, my noble friend,' chew upon this: 
Brutus had rather be a villager 
Than to repute himself a son of Rome 
Under these hard conditions as this time 
175 Is like to lay upon us. 

Cas. I am glad that my weak words 
Have struck but thus much show of fire from 
Brutus. 
Bru. The games .are done, and Caesar is 

returning. 
Cas. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve ; 
130 And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you 
What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. 

Re-enter Caesar and his Train. 

Bru. I will do so : but look you, Cassius, 
The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow, 
And all the rest look like a chidden train : 
185 Calpurnia's cheek is pale, and Cicero 
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes 
As we have seen him in the Capitol, 
Being cross 'd in conference by some senators. 
Cas. Casca will tell us what the matter is. 
190 Caes. Antonius ! 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAK 33 

Ant . Caesar ? 

Caes. Let me have men about me that are fat, 
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep 0' nights: 
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look ; 
He thinks too much ; such men are dangerous. 195 

Ant. Fear him not, Caesar ; he 's not dangerous ; 
He is a noble Roman, and well given. 

Caes. Would he were fatter ! but I fear him 
not: 
Yet if my name were liable to fear, 
I do not know the man I should avoid 200 

So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much ; 
He is a great observer, and he looks 
Quite through the deeds of men : he loves no plays, 
As thou dost, Antony ; he hears no music •: 
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort 205 

As if he mock'd himself, and scorn 'd his spirit 
That could be moved to smile at any thing. 
Such men as he be never at heart's ease 
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves, 
And therefore are they very dangerous. 210 

I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd 
Than what I fear ; for always I am Caesar. 
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, 
And tell me truly what thou think 'st of him. 

[Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and all 
his Train but Casca. 

Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you 
speak with me ? 215 

Bru. Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanced 
to-day, 
That Caesar looks so sad. 



34 JULIUS CAESAR [Act I 

Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not ? 

Bra. I should not then ask Casca what had 
chanced. 
220 Casca. Why, there was a crown offered him: 
and, being offered him, he put it by with the back 
of his hand, thus: and then the people fell 
a-shouting. 

Bra. What was the second noise for? 
225 Casca. Why, for that too. 

Cas. They shouted thrice: what was the last 
cry for? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 

Bra. Was the crown offered him thrice ? 

Casca. Ay, marry, was't; and he put it by 
230 thrice, every time gentler than other ; and at every 
putting by mine honest neighbors shouted. 

Cas. Who offered him the crown ? 

Casca. Why, Antony. 

Bra. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca. 
235 Casca. I can as well be hanged as tell the man- 
ner of it : it was mere foolery ; I did not mark it. 
I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown ; yet 'twas 
not a crown neither; 'twas one of these coronets: 
and, as I told you, he put it by once : but for all 
240 that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. 
Then he offered it to him again; then he put it 
by again ; but, to my thinking, he was very loath 
to lay his fingers off it. And then he offered it the 
third time ; he put it the third time by : and still 
245 as he refused it, the rabblement hooted and clapped 
their chopped hands and threw up their sweaty 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAR 35 

night-caps and uttered such a deal of stinking 
breath because Caesar refused the crown, that it 
had almost choked Caesar; for he swounded and 
fell down at it : and for mine own part, I durst 250 
not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and receiving 
the bad air. 

Cas. But, soft, I pray you: what, did Caesar 
swound ? 

Casca. He fell down in the market-place and 
foamed at mouth and was speechless. 255 

Bra. 'Tis very like : he . hath the falling- 
sickness. 

Cas. No, Caesar hath it not ; but you, and I, 
And honest Casca, we have the falling-sickness. 

Casca. I know not what you mean by that, but 
I am sure Caesar fell down. If the tag-rag people 260 
did not clap him and hiss him according as he 
pleased and displeased them, as they use to do the 
players in the theatre, I am no true man. 

Bra. What said he when he came unto himself ? 

Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he per- 265 
ceived the common herd was glad he refused the 
crown, he plucked me'ope his doublet and offered 
them his throat to cut. An I had been a man of 
any occupation, if I would not have taken him at a 
word, I would I might go to hell among the rogues. 270 
And so he fell. When he came to himself again, 
he said, if he had done or said any thing amiss, he 
desired their worships to think it was his infirmity. 
Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried, 'Alas, 
good soul ! ' and forgave him with all their hearts : 275 
but there's no heed to be taken of them; if Caesar 



36 JULIUS CAESAE [Act I 

had stabbed their mothers, they would have done 
no less. 

Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away? 
280 Casca. Ay. 

Cas. Did Cicero say any thing? 
Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek. 
Cas. To what effect? 

Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look 
285 you i ' the face again : but those that understood 
him smiled at one another and shook their heads; 
but for mine own part, it was Greek to me. I 
could tell you more news too : Marullus and Fla- 
vius, for pulling scarfs off Caesar's images, are put 
290 to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery 
yet, if I could remember it. 

Cas. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? 
Casca. No, I am promised forth. 
Cas. Will you dine with me to-morrow? 
295 Casca. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, 
and your dinner worth the eating. 
Cas. Good ; I will expect you. 
Casca. Do so : farewell, both. [Exit, 

Bru. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be ! 
300 He was quick mettle when he went to school. 
Cas. So is he now in execution 
Of any bold or noble enterprise, 
However he puts on this tardy form. 
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, 
305 Which gives men stomach to digest his word 
With better appetite. 

Bru. And so it is. For this time I will leave 
you: 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 37 

To-morrow, if you please to speak with me, 
I will come home to you ; or, if you will, 
Come home to me and I will wait for you. 310 

Cas. I will do so : till then, think of the world. 

[Exit Brutus. 
Well, Brutus, thou art noble ; yet, I see, 
Thy honorable metal may be wrought 
From that it is disposed : therefore, it is meet 
That noble minds keep ever with their likes ; 315 

For who so firm that cannot be seduced ? 
Caesar doth bear me hard ; but he loves Brutus : 
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, 
He should not humor me. I will this night, 
In several hands, in at his windows throw, 320 

As if they came from several citizens, 
Writings, all tending to the great opinion 
That Rome holds of his name, wherein obscurely 
Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at: 
And after this let Caesar seat him sure ; 325 

For we will shake him, or worse days endure. 

[Exit. 
Scene III. A street. 

Thunder and Lightning. Enter, from opposite 
sides, Casca, with his sword drawn, and Cicero. 

Cic. Good even, Casca: brought you Caesar 
home? 
Why are you breathless? and why stare you so? 
Casca. Are not you moved, when all the sway 
of earth 
Shakes like a thing unfirm ? Cicero, 
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds 5 



38 JULIUS CAESAR [Act I 

Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen 
The ambitions ocean swell and rage and foam, 
To be exalted with the threatening clonds ; 
But never till to-night, never till now, 

10 Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. 
Either there is a civil strife in heaven, 
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, 
Incenses them to send destruction. 

Cic. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful ? 

15 Casca. A common slave — you know him well by 
sight — 
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn 
Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his hand 
Not sensible of fire remain 'd unscorch'd. 
Besides — I ha' not since put on my sword — 

20 Against the Capitol I met a lion, 

Who glar'd upon me and went surly by 
Without annoying me : and there were drawn 
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women 
Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw 

25 Men all in fire walk up and down the streets. 
And yesterday the bird of night did sit 
Even at noon-day upon the market-place, 
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies 
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say 

30 ' These are their reasons : they are natural : ■ 
For, I believe, they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon. 

Cic. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time : 
But men may construe things after their fashion, 

36 Clean from the purpose of the things themselves. 
Comes Caesar to the Capitol to-morrow ? 



Scene III] . JULIUS CAESAR 39 

Casca. He doth ; for he did bid Antonius 
Send word to you he would be there to-morrow. 

Cic. Good night then, Casca : this disturbed sky 
Is not to walk in. 

Casca. Farewell, Cicero. [Exit Cicero. 40 

Enter Cassius. 

Cas. Who's there? 

Casca. A Roman. 

Cas. Casca, by your voice. 

Casca. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night 
is this! 

Cas. A very pleasing night to honest men. 

Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so ? 

Cas. Those that have known the earth so full of 
faults. 45 

For my part, I have walk'd about the streets, 
Submitting me unto the perilous night, 
And thus unbraced, Casca, as you see, 
Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone ; 
And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open 50 
The breast of heaven, I did present myself 
Even in the aim and very flash of it, 

Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt 
the heavens ? 
It is the part of men to fear and tremble 
When the most mighty gods by tokens send 55 

Such dreadful heralds to astonish us. 

Cas. You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of 
life 
That should be in a Roman you do want, 
Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze 



40 JULIUS CAESAR [Act I 

60 And put on fear and cast yourself in wonder, 
To see the strange impatience of the heavens : 
But if you would consider the true cause 
Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts, 
Why birds and beasts from quality and kind, 

65 Why old men fool and children calculate, 

Why all these things change from their ordinance, 
Their natures and preformed faculties, 
To monstrous quality, why, you shall find 
That heaven hath infused them with these spirits 

70 To make them instruments of fear and warning 
Unto some monstrous state. 
Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man 
Most like this dreadful night, 
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars 

75 As doth the lion in the Capitol, 

A man no mightier than myself or me 
In personal action, yet prodigious grown 
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are. 

Casca. 'Tis Caesar that you mean; is it not, 
Cassius ? 

so Cas. Let it be who it is : for Romans now 
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors; 
But, woe the while ! our fathers ' minds are dead, 
And we are govern 'd with our mothers ' spirits ; 
Our yoke and suffrance show us womanish. 

85 Casca. Indeed they say the senators to-morrow 
Mean to establish Caesar as a king ; 
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land, 
In every place save here in Italy. 

Cas. I know where I will wear this dagger then : 

90 Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius. 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 41 

Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong ; 

Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat : 

Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, 

Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, 

Can be retentive to the strength of spirit ; 95 

But life, being weary of these worldly bars, 

Never lacks power to dismiss itself. 

If I know this, know all the world besides, 

That part of tyrrany that I do bear 

I can shake off at pleasure. [Thunder still. 

Casca. So can 1 : 100 

So every bondman in his own hand bears 
The power to cancel his captivity. 

Cas. And why should Caesar be a tyrant then ? 
Poor man ! I know he would not be a wolf 
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep : 105 

He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. 
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire 
Begin it with weak straws : what trash is Rome, 
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves 
For the base matter to illuminate 110 

So vile a thing as Caesar ! But, grief, 
Where hast thou led me? I perhaps speak this 
Before a willing bondman ; then I know 
My answer must be made. But I am arm'd, 
And dangers are to me indifferent. 115 

Casca. You speak to Casca, and to such a man 
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand : 
Be factious for redress of all these griefs, 
And I will set this foot of mine as far 
As who goes farthest. 



42 JULIUS CAESAR [Act I 

120 Cas. There's a bargain made. 

Now know you, Casca, I have moved already 
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans 
To undergo with me an enterprise 
Of honorable-dangerous consequence; 

125 And I do know, by this they stay for me 

In Pompey 's porch : for now, this fearful night, 
There is no stir or walking in the streets, 
And the complexion of the element 
In favor's like the work we have in hand, 

130 Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. 

Enter Cinna. 

Casca. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in 

haste. 
Cas. 'Tis Cinna ; I do know him by his gait ; 
He is a friend. Cinna, where haste you so ? 

Cin. To find out you. Who's that? Metellus 
Cimber ? 
135 Cas. No, it is Casca ; one incorporate 

To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna? 
Cin. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is 
this! 
There 's two or three of us have seen strange sights. 
Cas. Am I not stay'd for? tell me. 
Cin. Yes, you are. 

140 Cassius, if you could 

But win the noble Brutus to our party — 

Cas. Be you content : good Cinna, take this 
paper, 
And look you lay it in the praetor's chair, 
Where Brutus may but find it, and throw this 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 43 

In at his window ; set this up with wax 145 

Upon old Brutus' statue : all this done, 
Repair to Pompey 's porch, where you shall find us. 
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there ? 

Cin. All but Metellus Cimber ; and he 's gone 
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, 150 

And so bestow these papers as you bade me. 

Cas. That done, repair to Pompey 's theatre. 

[Exit China. 
Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day 
See Brutus at his house : three parts of him 
Is ours already, and the man entire 155 

Upon the next encounter yields him ours. 

Casca. 0, he sits high in all the people 's hearts ; 
And that which would appear offence in us 
His countenance, like richest alchemy, 
Will change to virtue and to worthiness. 160 

Cas. Him and his worth and our great need of 
him 
You have right well conceited. Let us go, 
For it is after midnight, and ere day 
We will awake him and be sure of him. [Exeunt. 



ACT II 

Scene I. Borne. Brutus' s orchard. 

Enter Brutus. 

Bru. What, Lucius, ho ! 
I cannot, by the progress of the stars, 
Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say ! 
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly. 
5 When, Lucius, when ? awake, I say ! what, Lucius ! 

Enter Lucius. 

Luc. Call'd you, my lord? 
Bru. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius : 
When it is lighted, come and call me here. 

Luc. I will, my lord. [Exit. 

10 Bru. It must be by his death : and, for my part, 
I know no personal cause to spurn at him, 
But for the general. He would be crown 'd : 
How that) might change his nature, there's the 

question : 
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder; 
15 And that craves wary walking. Crown him? — 
that ; — ,- 
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, 
That at his will he may do danger with. 
The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins 
Remorse from power: and, to speak truth to 
Caesar, 

44 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 45 

I have not known when his affections sway 'd 20 

More than his reason. Bnt 'tis a common proof, 

That lowliness is young ambition 's ladder, 

Whereto the climber-upward turns his face ; 

But when he once attains the upmost round, 

He then unto the ladder turns his back, 25 

Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 

By which he did ascend : so Caesar may ; 

Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel 

Will bear no color for the thing he is, 

Fashion it thus ; that what he is, augmented, 30 

Would run to these and these extremities : 

And therefore think him as a serpent 's egg 

Which hatch 'd would as his kind grow mischievous, 

And kill him in the shell. 

Re-enter Lucius. 

Luc. The taper burneth in your closet, sir. 35 

Searching the window for a flint I found 
This paper thus seal'd up, and I am sure 
It did not lie there when I went to bed. 

[Gives him the letter. 

Bru. Get you to bed again ; it is not day. 
Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March ? 40 

Luc. I know not, sir. 

Bru. Look in the calendar and bring me word. 

Luc. I will, sir. [Exit. 

Bru. The exhalations whizzing in the air 
Give so much light that I may read by them. 45 

[Opens the letter and reads. 
'Brutus, thou sleep 'st: awake and see thyself. 
Shall Rome, &c. Speak, strike, redress. 



46 



JULIUS CAESAB 



lCT II 



Brutus, thou sleep 'st: awake.' 

Such instigations have been often dropp 'd 

50 Where I have took them up. 

'Shall Rome, &c. ' Thus must I piece it out : 
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, 

Rome? 
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome 
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king. 

55 ' Speak, strike, redress. ' Am I entreated 
To speak and strike? Rome, I make thee 

promise, 
If the redress will follow, thou receivest 
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus ! 



Re-enter Lucius. 



Luc. 



60 



Sir, March is wasted fifteen days. 

[Knocking within. 
Bru. 'Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody 
knocks. [Exit Lucius. 

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar 
I have not slept. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
65 Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream : 
The Genius and the mortal instruments 
Are then in council, and the state of man, 
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 
The nature of an insurrection. 



Re-enter Lucius. 

70 Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, 
Who doth desire to see you. 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 47 

Bru. Is he alone? 

Luc. No, sir, there are more with him. 

Bru. Do you know them ? 

Luc. No, sir: their hats are pluck 'd about 
their ears, 
And half their faces buried in their cloaks, 
That by no means I may discover them 75 

By any mark of favor. 

Bru. Let 'em enter. 

[Exit Lucius. 
They are the faction. conspiracy, 
Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, 
When evils are most free? 0, then, by day 
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough so 

To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, con- 
spiracy ; 
Hide it in smiles and affability : 
For if thou path, thy native semblance on, 
Not Erebus itself were dim enough 
To hide thee from prevention. 85 

Enter the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, 
Cinna, Metellus Cimber and Trebonius. 

Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest : 
Good morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you? 

Bru. I have been up this hour awake all night. 
Know I these men that come along with you? 

Cas. Yes, every man of them ; and no man here 90 
But honors you; and every one doth wish 
You had but that opinion of yourself 
Which every Roman bears of you. 
This is Trebonius. 



48 JULIUS CAESAE [Act II 

Bru. He is welcome hither. 

Cas. This, Deems Brutus. 
95 Bru. He is welcome, too. 

Cas. This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Me- 

tellus Cimber. 
Bru. They are all welcome. 
What watchful cares do interpose themselves 
Betwixt your eyes and night ? 
100 Cas. Shall I entreat a word? [They tvhisper. 
Dec. Here lies the east: doth not the day break 
here? 
Casca. No. 

Cin. 0, pardon, sir, it doth, and yon grey lines 
That fret the clouds are messengers of day. 
105 Casca. You shall confess that you are both de- 
ceived. 
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises; 
Which is a great way growing on the south, 
Weighing the youthful season of the year. 
Some two months hence up higher toward the north 
no He first presents his fire, and the high east 
Stands as the Capitol, directly here. 

Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by one. 
Cas. And let us swear our resolution. 
Bru. No, not an oath : if not the face of men, 
115 The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 
If these be motives weak, break off betimes, 
And every man hence to his idle bed; 
So let high-sighted tyranny range on 
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, 
120 As I am sure they do, bear fire enough 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAE 49 

To kindle cowards and to steel with valor 

The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen, 

What need we any spur but our own cause 

To prick us to redress? what other bond 

Than secret Eomans that have spoke the word, 125 

And will not palter? and what other oath 

Than honesty to honesty engaged 

That this shall be or we will fall for it? 

Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous, 

Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls 130 

That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear 

Such creatures as men doubt : but do not stain 

The even virtue of our enterprise, 

Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits, 

To think that our cause or our performance 135 

Did need an oath; when every drop of blood 

That every Eoman bears, and nobly bears, 

Is guilty of a several infamy 

If he do break the smallest particle 

Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. 140 

Cas. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him ? 
I think he will stand very strong with us. 

Casca. Let us not leave him out. 

Cin. No, by no means. 

Met. 0, let us have him, for his silver hairs 
"Will purchase us good opinion, 145 

And buy men's voices to commend our deeds: 
It shall be said his judgment ruled our hands ; 
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear, 
But all be buried in his gravity. 

Bru. 0, name him not: let us not break with 
him, 150 



50 JULIUS CAESAR [Act II 

For he will never follow anything 
That other men begin. 

Cas. Then leave him out. 

Casca. Indeed he is not fit. 
Dec. Shall no man else be touch 'd but only 
Caesar ? 

155 Cas. Decius, well urged : I think it is not meet 
Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar, 
Should outlive Caesar : we shall find of him 
A shrewd contriver; and you know his means, 
If he improve them, may well stretch so far 

160 As to annoy us all : which to prevent, 
Let Antony and Caesar fall together. 

Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius 
Cassius, 
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, 
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; 

165 For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: 

Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. 
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar, 
And in the spirit of men there is no blood : 
0, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, 

no And not dismember Caesar ! But, alas, 

Caesar must bleed for it ! And, gentle friends, 
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; 
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods, 
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds : 

175 And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, 
Stir up their servants to an act of rage 
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make 
Our purpose necessary and not envious: 
Which so appearing to the common eyes, 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAE 51 

We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers. ia> 

And for Mark Antony, think not of him; 
For he can do no more than Caesar's arm 
When Caesar's head is off. 

Cas. Yet I fear him, 

For in the ingrafted love he bears to Caesar — 

Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him: 185 
If he love Caesar, all that he can do 
Is to himself, take thought and die for Caesar: 
And that were much he should, for he is given 
To sports, to wildness, and much company. 

Treb. There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; 190 
For he will live and laugh at this hereafter. 

[Clock strikes. 

Bru. Peace ! count the clock. 

Cas. The clock hath stricken three. 

Treb. 'Tis time to part. 

Cas. But it is doubtful yet 

Whether Caesar will come forth to-day or no; 
For he is superstitious grown of late, 195 

Quite from the main opinion he held once 
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies : 
It may be these apparent prodigies, 
The unaccustom'd terror of this night 
And the persuasion of his augurers, 200 

May hold him from the Capitol to-day. 

Dec. Never fear that : if he be so resolved, 
I can o'ersway him; for he loves to hear 
That unicorns may be betray 'd with trees 
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, 205 

Lions with toils and men with flatterers : 



52 JULIUS CAESAR [Act II 

But when I tell him he hates flatterers, 
He says he does, being then most flattered. 
Let me work; 
210 For I can give his humor the true bent, 
And I will bring him to the Capitol. 

Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. 
Bru. By the eighth hour : is that the uttermost ? 
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. 
215 Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard, 
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey: 
I wonder none of you have thought of him. 

Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him: 
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons ; 
220 Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. 

Cas. The morning comes upon's: we'll leave 
you, Brutus: 
And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remem- 
ber 
What you have said and show yourselves true 
Romans. 
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; 
225 Let not our looks put on our purposes ; 
But bear it as our Roman actors do, 
With untired spirits and formal constancy : 
And so, good morrow to you every one. 

[Exeunt all but Brutus. 

Boy ! Lucius ! Fast asleep ! It is no matter ; 
230 Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber : 
Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, 
Which busy care draws in the brains of men; 
Therefore thou sleep 'st so sound. 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 53 

Enter Portia. 

Por. Brutus, my lord! 

Bru. Portia, what mean you? wherefore rise 
you now? 
It is not for your health thus to commit 235 

Your weak condition to the raw cold morning. 

Por. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, 
Brutus, 
Stol'n from my bed: and yesternight at supper 
You suddenly arose and walk'd about, 
Musing and sighing, with your arms across; 240 

And when I asked you what the matter was, 
You stared upon me with ungentle looks: 
I urged you further ; then you scratch 'd your head, 
And too impatiently stamp 'd with your foot: 
Yet I insisted, yet you answer 'd not, 245 

But with an angry wafture of your hand 
Gave sign for me to leave you : so I did, 
Fearing to strengthen that impatience 
"Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal 
Hoping it was but an effect of humor, 250 

Which sometime hath his hour with every man. 
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep, 
And, could it work so much upon your shape 
As it hath much prevailed on your condition, 
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord, 255 
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. 

Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. 

Por. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health, 
He would embrace the means to come by it. 



54 JULIUS CAESAE [Act II 

260 Bru. Why, so I do: good Portia, go to bed. 
Por. Is Brutus sick, and is it physical 
To walk unbraced and suck up the humors 
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick, 
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, 

265 To dare the vile contagion of the night, 
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air 
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus; 
You have some sick offence within your mind, 
Which by the right and virtue of my place 

270 I ought to know of : and, upon my knees, 
I charm you, by my once commended beauty, 
By all your vows of love and that great vow 
Which did incorporate and make us one, 
That you unfold to me, yourself, your half, 

275 Why you are heavy, and what men to-night 
Have had resort to you ; for here have been 
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces 
Even from darkness. 

Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. 

Por. I should not need, if you were gentle 
Brutus. 

280 Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, 
Is it excepted I should know no secrets 
That appertain to you? Am I yourself 
But, as it were, in sort or limitation, 
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, 

285 And talk to you sometimes ? Dwell I but in the 
suburbs 
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, 
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. 

Bru. You are my true and honorable wife, 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 55 

As dear to me as are the ruddy drops 
That visit my sad heart. 29 ° 

Tor. If this were true, then should I know this 
secret. 
I grant I am a woman, but withal 
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife : 
I grant I am a woman, hut withal 
A woman well reputed, Cato's daughter. ^ 

Think you I am no stronger than my sex, 
Being so father 'd and so husbanded? 
Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em : 
I have made strong proof of my constancy, 
Giving myself a voluntary wound 300 

Here in the thigh : can I bear that with patience 
And not my husband's secrets? 

Bru. ° y e g° ds ' 

Render me worthy of this noble wife ! 

[Knocking within. 

Hark, hark, one knocks : Portia, go in a while ; 
And by and by thy bosom shall partake 305 

The secrets of my heart : 
All my engagements I will construe to thee, 
All the charactery of my sad brows. 
Leave me with haste. [Exit Portia.] Lucius, 
who's that knocks? 

Re-enter Lucius with Ligarius. 
Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with 

310 

you. 
Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spoke of. 
Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius! how? 



56 JULIUS CAESAK [Act II 

Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble 

tongue. 
Bru. 0, what a time have you chose out, brave 
Caius, 
315 To wear a kerchief ! Would you were not sick ! 
Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand 
Any exploit worthy the name of honor. 

Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, 
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. 
320 Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, 
I here discard my sickness ! Soul of Rome ! 
Brave son, derived from honorable loins ! 
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up 
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, 
325 And I will strive with things impossible, 
Yea, get the better of them. What 's to do ? 

Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men 

whole. 
Lig. But are not some whole that we must make 

sick? 
Bru. That must we also. What it is, my Caius, 
330 I shall unfold to thee, as we are going 
To whom it must be done. 

Lig. Set on your foot, 

And with a heart new-fired I follow you, 
To do I know not what : but it sufficeth 
That Brutus leads me on. 

Bru. Follow me then. 

[Exeunt. 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAE 57 

Scene II. Caesar's house. 

Thunder and lightning. Enter Caesar, in his 

night-gown. 

Caes. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace 
to-night : 
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, 
' ' Help, ho ! they murder Caesar ! ' ' Who 's within ? 

Enter a Servant. 

Serv. My lord? 

Caes. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, 5 
And bring me their opinion of success. 

Serv. I will, my lord. [Exit. 

Enter Calpurnia. 

Cal. "What mean you, Caesar? think you to 
walk forth? 
You shall not stir out of your house to-day. 

Caes. Caesar shall forth : the things that threat- 
en 'd me 10 
Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see 
The face of Caesar, they are vanished. 

Cal. Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies. 
Yet now they fright me. There is one within, 
Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 15 
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. 
A lioness hath whelped in the streets; 
And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their 
dead; 



58 JULIUS CAESAR [Act II 

Fierce, fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, 
20 In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol; 
The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 
Horses did neigh and dying men did groan, 
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the 
streets. 
25 O Caesar ! these things are beyond all use, 
And I do fear them. 

Caes. What can be avoided 

Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods? 
Yet Caesar shall go forth • for these predictions 
Are to the world in general as to Caesar. 
30 Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets 
seen ; 
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of 
princes. 
Caes. Cowards die many times before their 
death ; 
The valiant never taste of death but once. 
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 
35 It seems to me most strange that men should fear, 
Seeing that death, a necessary end, 
Will come when it will come. 

Re-enter Servant. 

What say the augurers? 
Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to- 
day. 
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, 
40 They could not find a heart within the beast. 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAB 59 

Caes. The gods do this in shame of cowardice : 
Caesar should be a beast without a heart 
If he should stay at home to-day for fear. 
No, Caesar shall not: danger knows full well 
That Caesar is more dangerous than he : 45 

We are two lions litter 'd in one day, 
And I the elder and more terrible: 
And Caesar shall go forth. 

Cal. Alas, my lord, 

Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. 
Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear 50 

That keeps you in the house and not your own. 
We 11 send Mark Antony to the senate-house, 
And he shall say you are not well to-day : 
Let me upon my knee prevail in this. 

Caes. Mark Antony shall say I am not well, 55 
And, for thy humor, I will stay at home. 

Enter Decius. 

Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. 

Dec. Caesar, all hail! good morrow, worthy 
Caesar : 
I come to fetch you to the senate-house. 

Caes. And you are come in very happy time, eo 
To bear my greetings to the senators 
And tell them that I will not come to-day : 
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser : 
I will not come to-day : tell them so, Decius. 

Cal. Say he is sick. 

Caes. Shall Caesar send a lie ? 65 

Have I in conquest stretch 'd mine arm so far, 



60 JULIUS CAESAE [Act II 

To be af eard to tell graybeards the truth ? 
Deems, go tell them Caesar will not come. 

Dec. Most mighty Caesar, let me know some 
cause, 
70 Lest I be laugh 'd at when I tell them so. 

Caes. The cause is in my will : I will not come ; 
That is enough to satisfy the senate. 
But, for your private satisfaction, 
Because I love you, I will let you know. 
75 Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home : 
She dreamt to-night she saw my statue 
Which like a mighty fountain with an hundred 

spouts 
Did run pure blood, and many lusty Romans 
Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it: 
so And these does she apply for warnings and por- 
tents 
And evils imminent, and on her knee 
Hath begg 'd that I will stay at home to-day. 

Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted; 
It was a vision fair and fortunate : 
85 Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 
In which so many smiling Romans bathed, 
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck 
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press 
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance. 
90 This by Calpurnia 's dream is signified. 

Caes. And this way have you well expounded it. 
Dec. I have, when you have heard what I can 
say: 
And know it now : the senate have concluded 
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAR 61 

If you shall send them word you will not come, 95 

Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock 

Apt to be render 'd, for some one to say, 

"Break up the senate till another time, 

When Caesar's wife shall meet with better 

dreams. ' ' 
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper 100 

"Lo, Caesar is afraid"? 
Pardon me, Caesar, for my dear, dear love 
To your proceeding bids me tell you this, 
And reason to my love is liable. 

Caes. How foolish do your fears seem now, Cal- 

purnia ! 105 

I am ashamed I did yield to them. 
Give me my robe, for I will go. 

Enter Publius, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellu<3, 
Casca, Trebonius, and Cinna. 

And look where Publius is come to fetch me. 

Pub. Good morrow, Caesar. 

Caes. Welcome, Publius. 

What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early, too? no 

Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, 
Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy 
As that same ague which hath made you lean. 
What is't o'clock? 

Bru. Caesar, 'tis strucken eight. 

Caes. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. 115 

Enter Antony. 

See ! Antony, that revels long o 'nights, 

Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony. 



62 JULIUS CAESAR [Act II 

Ant. So to most noble Caesar. 
Caes. Bid them prepare within : 

I am to blame to be thus waited for. 
120 Now, Cinna : now, Metellus : what, Trebonins ! 
I have an hour's talk in store for you: 
Remember that you call on me to-day: 
Be near me that I may remember you. 

Treb. Caesar, I will. [Aside.] And so near 
will I be, 
125 That your best friends shall wish I had been 
further. 
Caes. Good friends, go in and taste some wine 
with me; 
And we like friends will straightway go together. 
Bru. [Aside.] That every like is not the same, 
Caesar, 
The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene III. • A street near the Capitol. Enter 
Artemidorus reading a paper. 

Art. 'Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of 
Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to 
Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well Metellus 
Cimber: Decius Brutus loves thee not: thou hast 
5 wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind 
in all these men, and it is bent against Caesar. If 
thou beest not immortal, look about you : security 
gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend 
thee ! 
10 Thy lover, Artemidorus.' 

Here will I stand till Caesar pass along, 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAR 63 

And as a suitor will I give him this. 

My heart laments that virtue cannot live 

Out of the teeth of emulation. 

If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live ; 

If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. [Exit. 

Scene IY. Another part of the same street, before 
the house of Brutus. 

Enter Portia and Lucius. 

Tor. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house ; 
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone. 
Why dost thou stay? 

Luc. To know my errand, madam. 

Tor. I would have had thee there, and here 
again, 
Ere I -can tell thee what thou shouldst do there. 5 

constancy, be strong upon my side ! 

Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue ! 

1 have a man's mind, but a woman's might. 
How hard it is for women to keep counsel!. 
Art thou here yet ? 

Luc. Madam, what should I do? io 

Run to the Capitol, and nothing else? 
And so return to you, and nothing else ? 

Tor. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look 
well, 
For he went sickly forth : and take good note 
What Caesar doth, what suitors press to him. 15 
Hark, boy! what noise is that? 

Luc. I hear none, madam. 



64 JULIUS CAESAR [Act II 

Por. Prithee, listen well: 

I heard a bustling rumor like a fray, 
And the wind brings it from the Capitol. 
20 Luc. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing. 

Enter the Soothsayer. 

Por. Come hither, fellow : Which way hast thou 

been? 
Sooth. At mine own house, good lady. 
Por. "What is 't o'clock? 

Sooth. About the ninth hour, lady. 

Por. Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol? 
25 Sooth. Madam, not yet : I go to take my stand, 
To see him pass on to the Capitol. 
Por. Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou 

not? 
Sooth. That I have, lady: if it will please 
Caesar 
To be so good to Caesar as to hear me, 
30 I shall beseech him to befriend himself. 

Por. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended 

towards him? 
Sooth. None that I know will be, much that I 
fear may chance. 
Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow: 
The throng that follows Caesar at the heels, 
35 Of senators, of praetors, common suitors, 
Will crowd a feeble man almost to death : 
I'll get me to a place more void and there 
Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. [Exit. 
Por. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing 
40 The heart of woman is! O Brutus, 



Scene IV] JULIUS CAESAR 65 

The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise ! 

Sure, the boy heard me. Brutus hath a suit 

That Caesar will not grant. 0, I grow faint. 

Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord; 

Say I am merry: come to me again, 45 

And bring me word what he doth say to thee. 

[Exeunt severally. 



ACT III 

Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate 
sitting above. 

A crowd of people; among them Artemidorus and 
the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter Caesar, Brutus, 
Cassius, Casca, Decius, Metellus, Trebonius, 
Cinna, Antony, Lepidus, Popilius, Publius, 
and others. 

Caes. The ides of March are come. 
Sooth. Ay, Caesar; but not gone. 
Art. Hail, Caesar! read this schedule. 
Dec. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, 
5 At your best leisure, this his humble suit. 

Art. Caesar, read mine first; for mine's a 
suit 
That touches Caesar nearer : read it, great Caesar. 
Caes. What touches us ourself shall be last 

served. 
Art. Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly. 
Caes. What, is the fellow mad? 
10 Pub. Sirrah, give place. 

Cas. What, urge you your petitions in the 
street ? 
Come to the Capitol. 

Caesar goes to the Senate-house, the rest 

following. 

66 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 67 

Pop. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive. 

Cas. What enterprise, Popilius ? 

Pop. Fare you well. 

[Advances to Caesar. 

Bru. What said Popilius Lena? 15 

Cas. He wished to-day our enterprise might 
thrive. 
I fear our purpose is discovered. 

Bru. Look, how he makes to Caesar : mark him. 

Cas. Casca, 

Be sudden, for we fear prevention. 
Brutus, what shall be done ? If this be known, 20 
Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back, 
For I will slay myself. 

Bru. Cassius, be constant: 

Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes; 
For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change. 

Cas. Trebonius knows his time; for, look you, 
Brutus, 25 

He draws Mark Antony out of the way. 

[Exeunt Antony and Trebonius. 

Dec. Where is Metellus Cimber ? Let him go, 
And presently prefer his suit to Caesar. 

Bru. He is address 'd: press near and second 
him. 

Cin. Casca, you are the first that rears your 
hand. so 

Caes. Are we all ready? What is now amiss 
That Caesar and his senate must redress? 

Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant 
Caesar, 



68 JULIUS CAESAE [Act III 

Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 

An humble heart: — [Kneeling. 

35 Caes. I must prevent thee, Cimber. 

These couchings and these lowly courtesies 
Might fire the blood of ordinary men, 
And turn pre-ordinance and first decree 
Into the law of children. Be not fond 

40 To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood 
That will be thaw'd from the true quality 
With that which melteth fools, I mean, sweet 

words, 
Low-crooked court 'sies and base spaniel-fawning. 
Thy brother by decree is banished : 

45 If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, 
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. 
Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 
Will he be satisfied. 

Met. Is there no voice more worthy than my 
own, 

50 To sound more sweetly in great Caesar's ear 
For the repealing of my banish 'd brother? 

Bru. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar, 
Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may 
Have an immediate freedom of repeal. 
Caes. What, Brutus! 

55 Cas. Pardon, Caesar ; Caesar, pardon : 

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, 
To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber. 

Caes. I could be well moved, if I were as you ; 
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me : 

eo But I am constant as the northern star, 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAE 69 

Of whose true-fix 'd and resting quality 

There is no fellow in the firmament. 

The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks; 

They are all fire and every one doth shine; 

But there 's but one in all doth hold his place : 65 

So in the world; 'tis furnish 'd well with men, 

And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive ; 

Yet in the number I do know but one 

That unassailable holds on his rank, 

Unshak 'd of motion : and that I am he, ?o 

Let me a little show it, even in this ; 

That I am constant Cimber should be banish 'd, 

And constant do remain to keep him so. 

Cin. Caesar, — 

Caes. Hence ! wilt thou lift up Olympus ? 

Dec. Great Caesar, — 

Caes. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel ? 75 

Casca. Speak, hands, for me ! 

[Casca first, then the other Conspirators 
and Marcus Brutus stab Caesar. 

Caes. Et tu, Brute ? Then fall, Caesar ! [Dies. 

Cin. Liberty! freedom! Tyranny is dead! 
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. 

Cas. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out 80 
'Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!' 

Bru. People, and senators, be not affrighted; 
Fly not ; stand still : ambition 's debt is paid. 

Casca. Go to the pulpit, Brutus. 

Dec. And Cassius, too. 85 

Bru. Where's Publius? 

Cin. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny. 



70 JULIUS CAESAR [Act III 

Met. Stand fast together, lest some friend of 
Caesar's 
Should chance — 

Bru. Talk not of standing. Publius, good 
cheer ; 
90 There is no harm intended to yonr person, 
Nor to no Roman else : so tell them, Publius. 

Cas. And leave us, Publius ; lest that the people 
Rushing on us should do your age some mischief. 
Bru. Do so : and let no man abide this deed 
95 But we the doers. 

Re-enter Trebonius. 

Cas. Where is Antony? 

Tre. Fled to his house amazed: 

Men, wives, and children stare, cry out, and run 
As it were doomsday. 

Bru. Fates, we will know your pleasures : 

That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time, 
loo And drawing days out, that men stand upon. 

Cas. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life 
Cuts off so many years of fearing death. 

Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit : 
So we are Caesar's friends, that have abridged 
105 His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop, 
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood 
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords : 
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place, 
And waving our red weapons o'er our heads, 
no Let's all cry 'Peace, freedom, and liberty!' 

Cas. Stoop then, and wash. How many ages 
hence 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 71 

Shall this our lofty scene be acted over 
In states unborn and accents yet unknown! 

Brit. How many times shall Caesar bleed in 
sport, 
That now on Pompey's basis lies along 115 

No worthier than the dust! 

Cas. So oft as that shall be, 

So often shall the knot of us be call'd 
The men that gave their country liberty, 

Dec. What, shall we forth? 

Cas. Ay, every man away: 

Brutus shall lead, and we will grace his heels 120 

With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. 

Enter a Servant. 

Bra. Soft ! who comes here ? A friend of An- 
tony's. 

Serv. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me 
kneel ; 
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down; 
And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say: 125 

Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest ; 
Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving; 
Say I love Brutus and I honor him ; 
Say I feared Caesar, honor 'd him, and loved him. 
If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony 130 

May safely come to him and be resolved 
How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death, 
Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead 
So well as Brutus living, but will follow 
The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus 135 



72 JULIUS CAESAE [Act III 

Through the hazards of this untrod state 
"With all true faith. So says my master Antony. 

Bru. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman ; 
I never thought him worse. 
140 Tell him, so please him come unto this place, 
He shall be satisfied and, by my honor, 
Depart untouch 'd. 

Serv. I'll fetch him presently. [Exit. 

Bru. I know that we shall have him well to 

friend. 
Cas. I wish we may : but yet have I a mind 
145 That fears him much, and my misgiving still 
Falls shrewdly to the purpose. 

Re-enter Antony. 

Bru. But here comes Antony. Welcome, Mark 

Antony. 
Ant . mighty Caesar ! dost thou lie so low ? 
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 
150 Shrunk to this little measure ? Fare thee well. 
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, 
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank: 
If I myself, there is no hour so fit 
As Caesar's death hour, nor no instrument 
155 Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich 
With the most noble blood of all this world. 
I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard, 
Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and 

smoke, 
Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years, 
160 I shall not find myself so apt to die : 

No place will please me so, no means of death, 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 73 

As here by Caesar, and by you cut off, 
The choice and master spirits of this age. 

Bru. Antony, beg not your death of us. 
Though now we must appear bloody and cruel, 165 
As, by our hands and this our present act, 
You see we do ; yet see you but our hands 
And this the bleeding business they have done : 
Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful; 
And pity to the general wrong of Rome — 170 

As fire drives out fire, so pity, pity — 
Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part, 
To you our swords have leaden points, Mark 

Antony : 
Our arms in strength of malice, and our hearts 
Of brothers' temper, do receive you in 175 

With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence. 

Cas. Your voice shall be as strong as any man 's 
In the disposing of new dignities. 

Bru. Only be patient till we have appeased 
The multitude, beside themselves with fear, iso 

And then we will deliver you the cause 
Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him, 
Have thus proceeded. 

Ant. I doubt not of your wisdom. 

Let each man render me his bloody hand : 
First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ; iss 

Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand ; 
Now, Deems Brutus, yours; now yours, Metellus; 
Yours, Cinna ; and, my valiant Casca, yours ; 
Though last, not least in love, yours, good Tre- 

bonius. 
Gentlemen all, — alas, what shall I say? 190 



74 



CAESAR 



[Act III 



My credit now stands on such slippery ground, 

That one of two bad ways yon must conceit me, 

Either a coward or a flatterer. 

That I did love thee, Caesar, 0, 'tis true : 
195 If then thy spirit look upon us now, 

Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death, 

To see thy Antony making his peace, 

Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes, 

Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ? 
200 Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, 

Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, 

It would become me better than to close 

In terms of friendship with thine enemies. 

Pardon me, Julius! Here wast thou bay'd, brave 
hart; 
205 Here did'st thou fall, and here thy hunters stand, 

Sign 'd in thy spoil and crimson 'd in thy lethe. 

world, thou wast the forest to this hart; 

And this, indeed, world, the heart of thee. 

How like a deer strucken by many princes 
210 Dost thou here lie ! 

Cas. Mark Antony, — 

Ant. Pardon me, Caius Cassius: 

The enemies of Caesar shall say this; 

Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty. 

Cas. I blame you not for praising Caesar so ; 
215 But what compact mean you to have with us? 

Will you be prick 'd in number of our friends, 

Or shall we on, and not depend on you? 

Ant. Therefore I took your hands, but was 
indeed 

Sway'd from the point by looking down on Caesar. 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 75 

Friends am I with you all and love you all, 220 

Upon this hope that you shall give me reasons 
Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous. 

Bru. Or else were this a savage spectacle : 
Our reasons are so full of good regard 
That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, 225 

You should be satisfied. 

Ant. That's all I seek: 

And am moreover suitor that I may 
Produce his body to the market-place, 
And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, 
Speak in the order of his funeral. 230 

Bru. You shall, Mark Antony. 

Cas. Brutus, a word with you. 

[Aside to Brutus.] You know not what you do : 

do not consent 
That Antony speak in his. funeral: 
Know you how much the people may be moved 
By that which he will utter? 

Bru. By your pardon: 235 

I will myself into the pulpit first, 
And show the reason of our Caesar's death: 
What Antony shall speak, I will protest 
He speaks by leave and by permission, 
And that we are contented Caesar shall 240 

Have all true sites and lawful ceremonies. 
It shall advantage more than do us wrong. 

Cas. I know not what may fall ; I like it not. 

Bru. Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's 
body. 
You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, 245 
But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, 



76 JULIUS CAESAE [Act III 

And say you do't by our permission; 

Else shall you not have any hand at all 

About his funeral : and you shall speak 
250 In the same pulpit whereto I am going, 

After my speech is ended. 

Ant. Be it so; 

I do desire no more. 

Bru. Prepare the body then, and follow us. 

[Exeunt all but Antony. 
Ant. 0, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of 
earth, 
255 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! 

Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 

That ever lived in the tide of times. 

Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood! 

Over thy wounds now do I prophesy, 
260 Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips 

To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue, 

A curse shall light upon the limbs of men; 

Domestic fury and fierce civil strife 

Shall cumber all the parts of Italy; 
265 Blood and destruction shall be so in use, 

And dreadful objects so familiar, 

That mothers shall but smile when they behold 

Their infants quartered with hands of war; 

All pity choked with custom of fell deeds: 
270 And Caesar's spirit ranging for revenge, 

With Ate by his side come hot from hell, 

Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice 

Cry ■ ' Havoc, ' ' and let slip the dogs of war ; 

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 
275 With carrion men, groaning for burial. 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAR 77 

Enter a Servant. 

You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not? 

Serv. I do, Mark Antony. 

Ant. Caesar did write for him to come to Rome. 

Serv, He did receive his letters, and is coming ; 
And bid me say to you by word of mouth — 2so 

Caesar! [Seeing the body. 

Ant. Thy heart is big ; get thee apart and weep. 
Passion, I see, is catching, for mine eyes, 
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine, 
Began to water. Is thy master coming? 285 

Serv. He lies to-night within seven leagues of 
Rome. 

Ant. Post back with speed, and tell him what 
hath chanced: 
Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, 
No Rome of safety for Octavius yet ; 
Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet stay awhile; 290 
Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse 
Into the. market-place : there shall I try, 
In my oration, how the people take 
The cruel issue of these bloody men ; 
According to the which, thou shalt discourse 295 
To young Octavius of the state of things. 
Lend me your hand. [Exeunt with Caesar's body. 



78 JULIUS CAESAE [Act III 

Scene II. The Forum. 

Enter Brutus and Cassius, and a throng of 
Citizens. 

Citizens. We will be satisfied; let us be satis- 
fied. 
Bru. Then follow me, and give me audience, 
friends. 
Cassius, go you into the other street, 
And part the numbers. 
5 Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here; 
Those that will follow Cassius, go with him; 
And public reasons shall be rendered 
Of Caesar's death. 
First Cit. I will hear Brutus speak. 

Sec. Cit. I will hear Cassius; .and compare 
their reasons, 
10 When severally we hear them rendered. 

[Exit Cassius, with some of the Citizens. 

Brutus goes into the pulpit. 

Third Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended: 

silence ! 

Bru. Be patient till the last. 

Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! hear me for 

my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: be- 

15 lieve me for mine honor, and have respect to mine 

honor, that you may believe : censure me in your 

wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the 

better judge. If there be any in this assembly, 

any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say that Bru- 

20 tus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If, then, 

that friend demand why Brutus rose against 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAR 79 

Caesar, this is my answer : not that I loved Caesar 
less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather 
Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that 
Caesar were dead, to live all freemen ? As Caesar 25 
loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I 
rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him; but 
as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears 
for his love ; joy for his fortune ; honor for his 
valor ; and death for his ambition. Who is here 30 
so base that would be a bondman ? If any, speak ; 
for him have I offended. \ Who is here so rude that 
would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him 
have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not 
love his country ? If any, speak ; for him have I 35 
offended. I pause for a reply. 

All. None, Brutus7 none. 

Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done 
no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. 
The question of his death is enrolled in the Cap- 40 
itol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was 
worthy, nor his offenses enforced, for which he 
suffered death. 

Enter Antony and others, with Caesar's body. 

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: 
who, though he had no hand in his death, shall 45 
receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the 
commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With 
this I depart, — that, as I slew my best lover for 
the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for 
myself, when it shall please my country to need so 
my death. 



80 JULIUS CAESAR [Act III 

All. Live ! Brutus, live, live ! 

First Cit. Bring him with triumph home unto his 

house. 
Sec. dt. Give him a statue with his ancestors. 
Third Cit. Let him be Caesar. 
55 Fourth Cit. Caesar's better parts 

Shall be crown 'd in Brutus. 

First Cit. We'll bring him to his house with 

shouts and clamors. 
Br u. My countrymen,— 

Sec. Cit. Peace ! silence ! Brutus speaks. 

First Cit. Peace, ho ! 
60 Bru. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, 
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony : 
Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech 
Tending to Caesar's glories, which Mark Antony 
By our permission is allow 'd to make. 
65 I do entreat you, not a man depart, 

Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [Exit. 

First Cit. Stay, ho! and let us hear Mark 

Antony. 
Third Cit. Let him go up into the public chair ; 
We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up. 
70 Ant. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 

[Goes into the pulpit. 
Fourth Cit. What does he say of Brutus ? 
Third Cit. He says, for Brutus' sake, 

He finds himself beholding to us all. 

Fourth Cit. 'Twere best he speak no harm of 

Brutus here. 
First Cit. This Caesar was a tyrant. 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAE 81 

Third Cit. Nay, that 's certain : 

We are blest that Rome is rid of him. 75 

Sec. Cit. Peace ! let us hear what Antony can 
say. 

Ant. You gentle Romans, — 

All. Peace, ho ! let us hear him. 

Ant. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me 
your ears ; 
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. 
The evil that men do lives after them ; so 

The good is oft interred with their bones ; 
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus ' 
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious : 
If it were so, it was a grievous fault, 
And grievously hath Caesar answer 'd it. 85 

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, — 
For Brutus is an honorable man ; 
So are they all, all honorable men, — 
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. 
He was my friend, faithful and just to me : 90 

But Brutus says he was ambitious ; 
And Brutus is an honorable man. 
He hath brought many captives home to Rome, 
"Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : 
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ? 95 

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept : 
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff ; 
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 
And Brutus is an honorable man. 
You all did see that on the Lupercal 100 

I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 
Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition ? 



82 JULIUS CAESAK . [Act III 

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 

And, sure, he is an honorable man. 
105 I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, 
- But here I am to speak what I do know. 

You all did love him once, not without cause : 

What cause withholds you then to mourn for him ? 

judgment ! thou art fled to brutish beasts, 

no And men have lost their reason. Bear with me ; 
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, 
And I must pause till it come back to me. 

First Cit. Methinks there is much reason in his 

sayings. 
Sec. Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter, 
Caesar has had great wrong, 
lis Third Cit. Has he, masters ? 

1 fear there will a worse come in his place. 
Fourth Cit. Mark'd ye his words? He would 

not take the crown ; 
Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious. 

First Cit. If it be found so, some will dear 
abide it. 
120 Sec. Cit. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire 
with weeping. 
Third Cit. There's not a nobler man in Rome 

than Antony. 
Fourth Cit. Now mark him, he begins again to 

speak. 
Ant. But yesterday the word of Caesar might 
Have stood against the world : now lies he there, 
125 And none so poor to do him reverence. 
masters, if I were dispos'd to stir 
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAK 83 

I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, 

Who, you all know, are honorable men : 

I will not do them wrong ; I rather choose 130 

To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, 

Than I will wrong such honorable men. 

But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar; 

I found it in his closet ; 'tis his will : 

Let but the commons hear this testament — 135 

Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read — 

And they would go and kiss dead Caesar 's wounds 

And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, 

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 

And, dying, mention it within their wills, 140 

Bequeathing it as a rich legacy 

Unto their issue. 

Fourth Cit. We 11 hear the will : read it, Mark 

Antony. 
All. The will, the will! we will hear Caesar's 

will. 
Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not 

read it ; 145 

It is not meet you know how Caesar lov'd you. 
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ; 
And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, 
It will inflame you, it will make you mad : 
'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs ; 150 

For if you should, 0, what would come of it ! 
Fourth Cit. Read the will; we'll hear it, 

Antony ; 
You shall read us the will, Caesar's will. 

Ant. Will you be patient ? will you stay awhile ? 
I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it : 155 



84 JULIUS CAESAR [Act III 

I fear I wrong the honorable men 
Whose daggers have stabb 'd Caesar ; I do fear it. 
Fourth Cit. They were traitors : honorable men ! 
All. The will ! the testament ! 
160 Sec. Cit. They were villains, murderers : the 
will ! read the will. 
Ant. You will compel me then to read the will ? 
Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar, 
And let me show you him that made the will. 
Shall I descend ? and will you give me leave ? 
165 All. Come down. 
Sec. Cit. Descend. 

[He comes down from the pulpit. 
Third Cit. You shall have leave. 
Fourth Cit. A ring ; stand round. 
First Cit. Stand from the hearse, stand from 
the body. 
170 Sec. Cit. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. 
Ant. Nay, press not so upon me ; stand far off. 
All. Stand back. Room ! Bear back. 
Ant. If you have tears, prepare to shed them 
now. 
You all do know this mantle : I remember 
175 The first time ever Caesar put it on ; 
'Twas on a summer 's evening, in his tent, 
That day he overcame the Nervii : 
Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through : 
See what a rent the envious Casca made : 
180 Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb 'd ; 
And, as he pluck 'd his cursed steel away, 
Mark how the blood of Caesar follow 'd it, 
As, rushing out of doors, to be resolved 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAE 85 

If Brutus so unkindly knock 'd, or no : 

For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel: 185 

Judge, you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him ! 

This was the most unkindest cut of all ; 

For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, 

Ingratitude, more strong than traitor 's arms, 

Quite vanquish 'd him : then burst his mighty 

heart ; . 190 

And, in his mantle muffling up his face, 
Even at the base of Pompey's statue, 
Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. 
0, what a fall was there, my countrymen ! 
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, 195 

Whilst bloody treason flourish 'd over us. 
0, now you weep, and I perceive you feel 
The dint of pity : these are gracious drops. 
Kind souls, what! weep you when you but behold 
Our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you here, 200 

Here is himself, marr 'd, as you see, with traitors. 

« 

First. Cit. piteous spectacle ! 

Sec. Cit. noble Caesar ! 

Third Cit. woful day ! 

Fourth Cit. traitors, villains ! 205 

First Cit. most bloody sight ! 

Sec. Cit. We will be revenged. 

All. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! 

Slay ! Let not a traitor live ! 
Ant. Stay, countrymen. 210 

First Cit. Peace there ! hear the noble Antony. 
Sec. Cit. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll 

die with him. 



86 JULIUS CAESAK [Act III 

Ant. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not 
stir you up 
To such a sudden flood of mutiny. 
215 They that have done this deed are honorable ; 
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, 
That made them do it : they are wise and honorable, 
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. 
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : 
220 I am no orator, as Brutus is ; 

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, 
That love my friend ; and that they know full well 
That gave me public leave to speak of him : 
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, 
225 Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech 
To stir men's blood : I only speak right on ; 
I tell you that which you yourselves do know ; 
Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor, poor dumb 

mouths, 
And bid them speak for me : but were I Brutus, 
230 And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
"Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue 
In every wound of Caesar, that should move 
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. 
All. We '11 mutiny. 
235 First Cit. We '11 burn the house of Brutus. 

Third Cit. Away, then! come, seek the con- 
spirators. 
Ant. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me 

speak. 
All. Peace, ho! Hear Antony. Most noble 
Antony ! 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAE 87 

Ant. Why, friends, you go to do you know not 
what : 
Wherein hath Caesar thus deserv'd your loves? 240 
Alas, you know not ; I must tell you then : 
You have forgot the will I told you of. 

All. Most true: the will! Let's stay and hear 
the will. 

Ant. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. 
To every Roman citizen he gives, 245 

To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. 

Sec. Cit. Most noble Caesar! we'll revenge his 
death. 

Third Cit. royal Caesar ! 

Ant. Hear me with patience. 

All. Peace, ho ! 250 

Ant. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, 
His private arbors and new-planted orchards, 
On this side Tiber ; he hath left them you, 
And to your heirs for ever ; common pleasures, 
To walk abroad and recreate yourselves. 255 

Here was a Caesar ! when comes such another ? 

First Cit. Never, never. Come, away, away ! 
We '11 burn his body in the holy place, 
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. 
Take up the body. 260 

Sec. Cit. Go fetch fire. 

Third Cit. Pluck down benches. 

Fourth Cit. Pluck down forms, windows, any 
thing. [Exeunt Citizens with the body. 

Ant. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, 
Take thou what course thou wilt. 



88 JULIUS CAESAE [Act III 

Enter a Servant. 

265 How now, fellow ! 

Serv. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. 
Ant. Where is lie ? 

Serv. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house. 
Ant. And thither will I straight to visit him. 
270 He comes npon a wish. Fortune is merry, 
And in this mood will give us any thing. 

Serv. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius 
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. 
Ant. Belike they had some notice of the people, 
275 How I had moved them. Bring me to Octavius. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene III. A street. 

Enter Cinna the poet. 

Cin. I dreamt to-night that I did feast with 
Caesar, 
And things unluckily charge my fantasy : 
I have no will to wander forth of doors. 
Yet something leads me forth. 

Enter Citizens. 

5 First Cit. What is your name ? 

Sec. Cit. Whither are you going ? 

Third Cit. Where do you dwell ? 

Fourth Cit. Are you a married man or a 
bachelor ? 

Sec. Cit. Answer every man directly. 
10 First Cit. Ay, and briefly. 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 89 

Fourth Cit. Ay, and wisely. 

Third Cit. Ay, and truly, you were best. 

Cin. What is my name ? Whither am I going ? 
Where do I dwell? Am I a married man or a 
bachelor ? Then, to answer every man directly and 15 
briefly, wisely and truly: wisely I say, I am a 
bachelor. 

Sec. Cit. That's as much as to say, they are 
fools that marry: you'll bear me a bang for that, 
I fear. Proceed ; directly. 20 

Cin. Directly, I am going to Caesar's funeral. 

First Cit. As a friend or an enemy ? 

Cin. As a friend. 

Sec. Cit. That matter is answered directly. 

Fourth Cit. For your dwelling, briefly. 25 

Cin. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol. 

Third. Your name, sir, truly. 

Cin. Truly, my name is Cinna. 

First Cit. Tear him to pieces ■ he 's a conspirator. 

Cin. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet. 30 

Fourth Cit. Tear him for his bad verses, tear 
him for his bad verses. 

Cin. I am not Cinna the conspirator. 

Fourth Cit. It is no matter, his name 's Cinna ; 
pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him 35 
going. 

Third Cit. Tear him, tear him ! Come, brands, 
ho! fire-brands: to Brutus', to Cassius'; burn all: 
some to Decius' house, and some to Casca's; some 
to Ligarius' : away, go ! [Exeunt. 40 



ACT IV 

Scene I. A house in Rome. 

Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, seated at a table. 

Ant. These many then shall die; their names 

are prick 'd. 
Oct. Your brother too must die; consent you, 

Lepidus ? 
Lep. I do consent — 

Oct. Prick him down, Antony. 

Lep. Upon condition Publius shall not live, 
5 Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony. 

Ant. He shall not live ; look, with a spot I damn 
him. 
But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house; 
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine 
How to cut off some charge in legacies. 
10 Lep. What, shall I find ycu here ? 

Oct. Or here, or at the Capitol. [Exit Lepidus. 
Ant. This is a slight unmeritable man, 
Meet to be sent on errands : is it fit, 
The three-fold world divided, he should stand 
One of the three to share it ? 
15 Oct. So you thought him, 

And took his voice who should be prick 'd to die 
In our black sentence and proscription. 

Ant. Octavius, I have seen more days than you: 
And though we lay these honors on this man, 
20 To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads, 

90 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAE 91 

He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, 

To groan and sweat under the business, 

Either led or driven, as we point the way ; 

And having brought our treasure where we will, 

Then take we down his load and turn him off, 25 

Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears 

And graze in commons. 

Oct. You may do your will : 

But he 's a tried and valiant soldier. 

Ant. So is my horse, Octavius, and for that 
I do appoint him store of provender : 30 

It is a creature that I teach to fight, 
To wind, to stop, to run directly on, 
His corporal motion govern 'd by my spirit. 
And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so ; 
He must be taught, and train 'd, and bid go forth ; 25 
A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds 
On abjects, orts, and imitations, 
"Which, out of use and stal 'd by other men, 
Begin his fashion : do not talk of him 
But as a property. And now, Octavius, 40 

Listen great things : Brutus and Cassius 
Are levying powers : we must straight make head : 
Therefore let our alliance be combined, 
Our best friends made, our means stretch 'd ; 
And let us presently go sit in council, 45 

How covert matters may be best disclos 'd, 
And open perils surest answered. 

Oct. Let us do so : for we are at the stake, 
And bay 'd about with many enemies ; 
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, 50 
Millions of mischiefs. [Exeunt. 



92 JULIUS CAESAE [Act IV 

Scene II. 

Camp near Sardis. Before Brutus' tent. 

Drum. Enter Brutus, Lucilius, Lucius, and 
Soldiers; Titinius and Pindarus meet them. 

Bru. Stand, ho ! 

Lucil. Give the word, ho ! and stand. 

Bru. What now, Lucilius ! is Cassius near ? 

Lucil. He is at hand ; and Pindarus is come 
6 To do you salutation from his master. 

Bru. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus, 
In his own change, or by ill officers, 
Hath given me some worthy cause to wish 
Things done undone : but if he be at hand, 
I shall be satisfied. 
10 Pin. I do not doubt 

But that my noble master will appear 
Such as he is, full of regard and honor. 

Bru. He is not doubted. A word, Lucilius, 
How he received you : let me be resolved. 
15 Lucil. With courtesy and with respect enough ; 
But not with such familiar instances, 
Nor with such free and friendly conference, 
As he hath used of old. 

Bru. Thou hast described 

A hot friend cooling : ever note, Lucilius, 
20 When love begins to sicken and decay, 
It useth an enforced ceremony. 
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith : 
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle ; 



Scene II] JULIUS CAESAR 93 

But when they should endure the bloody spur, 25 

They fall their crests and like deceitful jades 
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ? 

Lucil. They mean this night in Sardis to be 
quarter 'd; 
The greater part, the horse in general, 
Are come with Cassius. [Low march within. 

Bru. Hark ! he is arrived : 30 

March gently on to meet him. 

Enter Cassius and his powers. 

Cas. Stand, ho ! 

Bru. Stand, ho ! Speak the word along. 

First Sol. Stand ! 

Sec. Sol. Stand ! 35 

Third Sol. Stand ! 

Cas. Most noble brother, you have done me 
wrong. 

Bru. Judge me, you gods! wrong I mine 
enemies ? 
And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother? 

Cas. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides 
wrongs ; 40 

And when you do them — 

Bru. Cassius, be content; 

Speak your griefs softly : I do know you well. 
Before the eyes of both our armies here, 
Which should perceive nothing but love from us, 
Let us not wrangle : bid them move away ; 45 

Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, 
And I will give you audience. 



94 JULIUS CAESAE [Act IV 

Cas. Pindarus, 

Bid our commanders lead their charges off 
A little from this ground. 
50 Bru. Lueilius, do you the like, and let no man 
Come to our tent till we have done our conference. 
Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Brutus's tent. 

Enter Brutus and Cassius. 

Cas. That you have wrong 'd me doth appear in 
this: 
You have condemn 'd and noted Lucius Pella 
For taking bribes here of the Sardians ; 
Wherein my letters, praying on his side, 
5 Because I knew the man, were slighted off. 

Bru. You wrong 'd yourself to write in such a 

case. 
Cas. In such a time as this it is not meet 
That every nice offence should bear his comment. 
Brio. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 
10 Are much condemn 'd to have an itching palm, 
To sell and mart your offices for gold 
To undeservers. 

Cas. I an itching palm ! 

You know that you are Brutus that speaks this, 
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last. 
15 Bru. The name of Cassius honors this corrup- 
tion, 
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head. 
Cas. Chastisement ! 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 95 

Bru. Remember March, the ides of March 
remember : 
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? 
What villain touch 'd his body, that did stab, 20 

And not for justice ? What, shall omr-oi us, 
That struck the foremost man of all this world 
But for supporting robbers, shall we now 
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, 
And sell the mighty space of our large honors 25 

For so much trash as may be grasped thus ? 
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 
Than such a Roman. 

Cas. Brutus, bait not me ; 

1 11 not endure it : you forget yourself, 
To hedge me in ; I am a soldier, I, 30 

Older in practice, abler than yourself 
To make conditions. 

Bru. Go to ; you are not, Gassius. 

Cas. I am. 

Bru. I say you are not. 

Cas. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself ; 35 
Have mind upon your health ; tempt me no farther. 

Bru. Away, slight man ! 

Cas. Is 't possible ? 

Bru. Hear me, for I will speak. 

Must I observe you ? Must I stand and crouch 
Shall I be frighted when a madman stares ? 40 

Cas. ye gods, ye gods ! must I endure all this ? 

Bru. All this ! ay, more : fret till your proud 
heart break ; 
Go show your slaves how choleric you are, 
And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge ? 



96 JULIUS CAESAR [Act IV 

45 Must I observe you ? Must I stand and crouch 
Under your testy humor ? By the gods, 
You shall digest the venom of your spleen, 
Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, 
I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, 
"When you are waspish. 
50 Cas. Is it come to this? 

Bru. You say you are a better soldier : 
Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true, 
And it shall please me well : for mine own part, 
I shall be glad to learn of noble men. 
55 Cas. You wrong me every way ; you wrong me, 
Brutus ; 
I said, an elder soldier, not a better : 
Did I say, better ? 

Bru. If you did, I care not. 

Cas. When Caesar lived, he durst not thus have 

moved me. 
Bru. Peace, peace ! you durst not so have 
tempted him. 
60 Cas. I durst not ! 
Bru. No. 

Cas. What, durst not tempt him ! 
Bru. For your life you durst not. 

Cas. Do not presume too much upon my love; 
I may do that I shall be sorry for. 
65 Bru. You have done that you should be sorry for. 
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats; 
For I am arm 'd so strong in honesty, 
That they pass by me as the idle wind 
Which I respect not. I did send to you 
70 For certain sums of gold, which you denied me : 



Scene III J JULIUS CAESAR 



97 



For I can raise no money by vile means : 

By heaven, I had rather coin my heart, 

And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 

From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 

By any indirection. I did send 75 

To you for gold to pay my legions, 

Which you denied me : was that done like Cassius ? 

Should I have answer 'd Caius Cassius so? 

When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 

To lock such rascal counters from his friends, so 

Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts, 

Dash him to pieces ! 

Cas. I denied you not. 

Bru. You did. 

Cas. I did not : he was but a fool 

That brought my answer back. Brutus hath rived 

my heart : 
A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, 85 

But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. 
Bru. I do not, till you practise them on me. 
Cas. You love me not. 

Bru. I do not like your faults. 

Cas. A friendly eye could never see such faults. 
Bru. A flatterer's would not, though they do 
appear 90 

As huge as high Olympus. 

Cas. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, 
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, 
For Cassius is aweary of the world ; 
Hated by one he loves ; braved by his brother ; 95 
Check 'd like a bondman ; all his faults observed, 
Set in a note-book, learn 'd and conn 'd by rote, 



98 JULIUS CAESAE [Act IV 

To cast into my teeth. 0, I could weep 
My spirit from mine eyes ! There is my dagger, 
100 And here my naked breast ; within, a heart 
Dearer than Plutus ' mine, richer than gold ; 
If that thou be 'st a Boman, take it forth ; 
I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart : 
Strike, as thou didst at Caesar; for I know, 
105 When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him 
better 
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. 

Bru. Sheathe your dagger : 

Be angry when you will, it shall have scope ; 
Do what you will, dishonor shall be humor. 
Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb, 
no That carries anger as the flint bears fire, 
Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark 
And straight is cold again. 

Cas. Hath Cassius lived 

To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, 
When grief and blood ill-temper 'd vexeth him. 
U5 Bru. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper 'd too. 
Cas. Do you confess so much? Give me your 

hand. 
Bru. And my heart too. 
Cas. O Brutus ! 

Bru. What's the matter. 

Cas. Have not you love enough to bear with me, 
When that rash humor which my mother gave me 
Makes me forgetful ? 
120 Bru. Yes, Cassius, and from henceforth, 

When you are over-earnest with your Brutus, 
He '11 think your mother chides, and leave you so. 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 99 

Poet. [Within] Let me go in to see the generals ; 
There is some grudge between 'em ; 'tis not meet 
Thejr be alone. 125 

Lucil. [Within] You shall not come to them. 

Poet. [Within] Nothing but death shall stay 
me. 

Enter Poet, followed by Lucilius, Titinius, and 

Lucius. 

Cas. How now ! what 's the matter ? 

Poet. For shame, you generals! what do you 
mean ? 
Love, and be friends, as two such men should be; 130 
For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye: 

Cas. Ha, ha ! how vilely doth this cynic rhyme ! 

Bru. Get you hence, sirrah ; saucy fellow, hence ! 

Cas. Bear with him, Brutus ; 'tis, his fashion. 

Bru. I'll know his humor when he knows his 
time : 135 

"What should the wars do with these jigging fools ? 
Companion, hence ! 

Cas. Away, away, be gone ! [Exit Poet. 

Bru. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders 
Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 

Cas. And come yourselves, and bring Messala 
with you 140 

Immediately to us. [Exeunt Lucilius and Titinius. 

Bru. Lucius, a bowl of wine ! [Exit Lucius. 

Cas. I did not think you could have been so 
angry. 

Bru. Cassius, I am sick of many griefs. 



100 JULIUS CAESAR [Act IV 

Cas. Of your philosophy you make no use, 
145 If you give place to accidental evils. 

Bru. No man bears sorrow better : Portia is 

dead. 
Cas. Ha ! Portia ! 
Bru. She is dead. 

Cas. How 'scaped I killing when I cross 'd you 
so? 
150 insupportable and touching loss ! 
Upon what sickness ? 

Bru. Impatient of my absence, 

And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony 
Have made themselves so strong: for with her 

death 
That tidings came : with this she fell distract, 
155 And, her attendants absent, swallow 'd fire. 
Cas. And died so ? 
Bru. Even so. 

Cas. ye immortal gods! 

Re-enter Lucius, with wine and taper. 
Bru. Speak no more of her. — Give me a bowl 
of wine. 
In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. [Drinks. 
Cas. My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. 
160 Fill, Lucius, till the wine o 'erswell the cup ; 

I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love. [Brinks. 
Bru. Come in, Titinius ! [Exit Lucius. 

Be-enter Titinius, with Messala. 

Welcome, good Messala. 
Now sit we close about this taper here, 
And call in question our necessities. 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAE 101 

Cos. Portia, art thou gone ? 

Bru. No more, I pray you. 165 

Messala, I have here received letters, 
That young Octavius and Mark Antony 
Come down upon us with a mighty power, 
Bending their expedition toward Philippi. 

Mes. Myself have letters of the self -same tenor. 170 

Bru. With what addition ? 

Mes. That by proscription and bills of outlawry 
Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus 
Have put to death an hundred senators. 

Bru. Therein our letters do not well agree ; 175 

Mine speak of seventy senators that died 
By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. 

Cas. Cicero one ! 

Mes. Cicero is dead, 

And by that order of proscription. 
Had you your letters from your wife, my lord ? iso 

Bru. No, Messala. 

Mes. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her ? 

Bru. Nothing, Messala. 

Mes. That, methinks, is strange. 

Bru. Why ask you ? Hear you aught of her in 
yours ? 

Mes. No, my lord. 185 

Bru. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true. 

Mes. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell : 
For certain she is dead, and by strange manner. 

Bru. Why, farewell, Portia. We must die, 
Messala : 
With meditating that she must die once wo 

I have the patience to endure it now. 



102 JULIUS CAESAR [Act IV 

Mes. Even so great men great losses should 

endure. 
Cas. I have as much of this in art as you, 
But yet my nature could not bear it so. 
195 Bru. Well, to our work alive. What do you 
think 
Of marching to Philippi presently ? 
Cas. I do not think it good. 
Bru. Your reason ? 

Cas. This it is : 

'Tis better that the enemy seek us : 
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 
200 Doing himself offence ; whilst we lying still 
Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. 

Bru. Good reasons must of force give place to 
better. 
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground 
Do stand but in a fore 'd affection, 
205 For they have grudged us contribution : 
The enemy, marching along by them, 
By them shall make a fuller number up, 
Come on refresh 'd, new-added, and encouraged; 
From which advantage shall we cut him off 
210 If at Philippi we do face him there, 
These people at our back. 

Cas. Hear me, good brother. 

Bru. Under your pardon. You must note beside 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe : 
215 The enemy increaseth every day ; 
We, at the height, are ready to decline. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 103 

Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune ; 

Omitted, all the voyage of their life 

Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 220 

On such a full sea are we now afloat, 

And we must take the current when it serves, 

Or lose our ventures. 

Cas. Then, with your will, go on ; 

We 11 along ourselves and meet them at Philippi. 

Bru. The deep of night is crept upon our talk, 225 
And nature must obey necessity ; 
Which we will niggard with a little rest. 
There is no more to say ? 

Cas. No more. Good night : 

Early to-morrow will we rise and hence. 

Bru. Lucius! [Re-enter Lucius.] My gown. 
[Exit Lucius.] Farewell, good Messala: 230 
Good night, Titinius : noble, noble Cassius, 
Good night, and good repose. 

Cas. my dear brother ! 

This was an ill beginning of the night : 
Never come such division 'tween our souls ! 
Let it not, Brutus. 

Bru. Every thing is well. 235 

Cas. Good night, my lord. 

Bru. Good night, good brother. 

Tit. Mes. Good night, Lord Brutus. - 

Bru. Farewell, every one. 

[Exeunt all hut Brutus. 

Re-enter Lucius, with the gown. 

Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument ¥ 
Luc. Here in the tent. 



104 JULIUS CAESAR [Act IV 

Bru. What, thou speak 'st drowsily? 

240 Poor knave, I blame thee not ; thou art o 'er-watch 'd. 
Call Claudius and some other of my men ; 
I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent. 

Luc. Varro and Claudius ! 

Enter Varro and Claudius. 

Var. Calls my lord ? 
245 Bru. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep ; 
It may be I shall raise you by and by 
On business to my brother Cassius. 

Var. So please you, we will stand and watch 

your pleasure. 
Bru. I will not have it so : lie down, good sirs ; 
250 It may be I shall otherwise bethink me. 

Look, Lucius, here 's the book I sought for so ; 
I put it in the pocket of my gown. 

[Varro and Claudius lie down. 
Luc. I w T as sure your lordship did not give it me. 
Bru. Bear with me, good boy, I am much for- 
getful. 
255 Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile, 
And touch thy instrument a strain or two ? 
Luc. Ay, my lord, an 't please you. 
Bru. It does, my boy : 

I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. 
Luc. It is my duty, sir. 
260 Bru. I should not urge thy duty past thy might ; 
I know young bloods look for a time of rest. 
Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. 
Bru. It was well done; and thou shalt sleep 
again — 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 105 

I will not hold thee long : if I do live, 

I will be good to thee. [Music, and a song. 235 

This is a sleepy tune. murderous slumber, 

Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, 

That plays thee music ? Gentle knave, good night ; 

I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee : 

If thou dost nod, thou break 'st thy instrument ; 270 

1 11 take it from thee ; and, good boy, good night. 

Let me see, let me see ; is not the leaf turn 'd down 

Where I left reading ? Here it is, I think. 

[Sits down. 

Enter the Ghost of Caesar. 

How ill this taper burns ! Ha ! who comes here ? 

I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 275 

That shapes this monstrous apparition. 

It comes upon me. Art thou any thing ? 

Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 

That makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare ? 

Speak to me what thou art. 280 

Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. 

Bru. Why comest thou 1 

Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. 

Bru. Well; then I shall see thee again. 

Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. 

Bru. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then. 235 

[Exit Ghost. 
Now I have taken heart thou vanishest. 
Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. 
Boy, Lucius ! Varro ! Claudius ! Sirs, awake ! 
Claudius ! 

Luc. The strings, my lord, are false. 290 



106 



* JULIUS CAESAR 



[Act IV 



Bru. He thinks he still is at his instrument. 
Lucius, awake ! 
Luc. My lord ? 

Bru. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so 
criedst out? 
295 Luc. My lord, I do not know that I did cry. 

Bru. Yes, that thou didst: didst thou see any 

thing ? 
Luc. Nothing, my lord. 

Bru. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius! 
[To Varro] Fellow thou, awake ! 
Var. My lord ? 
300 Clau. My lord ? 

Bru. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your 

sleep ? 
Var. Clau. Did we, my lord ? 
Bru. Ay : saw you any thing ? 

Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing. 
Clau. Nor I, my lord. 

Bru. Go and commend me to my brother 
Cassius ; 
305 Bid him set on his powers betimes before, 
And we will follow. 

Var. Clau. It shall be done, my lord. [Exeunt. 



ACT V 

Scene I. The plains of Philippi. 

Enter Octavius, Antony, and their army. 

Oct. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered : 
You said the enemy would not come down, 
But keep the hills and upper regions ; 
It proves not so : their battles are at hand ; 
They mean to warn us at Philippi here, 5 

Answering before we do demand of them. 

Ant. Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know 
Wherefore they do it : they could be content 
To visit other places ; and come down 
With fearful bravery, thinking by this face 10 

To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage ; 
But 'tis not so. 

Enter a Messenger. 

Mess. Prepare you, generals : 

The enemy comes on in gallant show ; 
Their bloody sign of battle is hung out, 
And something to be done immediately. 15 

Ant. Octavius, lead your battle softly on, 
Upon the left hand of the even field. 

Oct. Upon the right hand I ; keep thou the left. 

Ant. Why do you cross me in this exigent ? 

Oct. I do not cross you ; but I will do so. 20 

[March. 
107 



108 JULIUS CAESAR [Act 

Drum. Enter Brutus, Cassius, and their Army ; 
Lucilius, Titinius, Messala, and others. 
Bru. They stand, and would have parley. 
Cas. Stand fast, Titinius : we must out and talk. 
Oct. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle ? 
Ant. No, Caesar, we will answer on their charge. 
25 Make forth ; the generals would have some words. 
Oct. Stir not until the signal. 
Bru. Words before blows : is it so, countrymen ? 
Oct. Not that we love words better, as you do. 
Bru. Good words are better than bad strokes, 

Octavius. 
Ant. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good 
30 words : 

Witness the hole you made in Caesar's heart, 
Crying 'Long live! hail, Caesar!' 

Cas. Antony, 

The posture of your blows are yet unknown ; 
But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, 
And leave them honeyless. 
35 Ant. Not stingless too. 

Bru. 0, yes, and soundless too ; 
For you have stol 'n their buzzing, Antony, 
And very wisely threat before you sting. 

Ant. Villains, you did not so, when your vile 
daggers 
40 Hack'd one another in the sides of Caesar: 
You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like 

hounds, 
And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Caesar's feet; 
Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind 
Struck Caesar on the neck. you flatterers !. 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAE 109 

Cas. Flatterers ! Now, Brutus, thank yourself : 45 
This tongue had not offended so to-day, 
If Cassius might have ruled. 

Oct. Come, come, the cause : if arguing make 
us sweat, 
The proof of it will turn to redder drops. 
Look ; 50 

I draw a sword against conspirators ; 
When think you that the sword goes up again ? 
Never, till Caesar's three and thirty wounds 
Be well aveng'd, or till another Caesar 
Have added slaughter to the swords of traitors. 55 

Bru. Caesar, thou canst not die by traitors' 
hands, 
Unless thou bring 'st them with thee. 

Oct. So I hope ; 

I was not born to die on Brutus ' sword. 

Bru. 0, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain, 
Young man, thou couldst not die more honorable. 60 

Cas. A peevish schoolboy, worthless of such 
honor, 
Join 'd with a masker and a reveller ! 

Ant. Old Cassius still ! 

Oct. Come, Antony; away! 

Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth ; 
If you dare fight to-day, come to the field : 65 

If not, when you have stomachs. 

[Exeunt Octavius, Antony, and their army. 

Cas. Why, now, blow wind, swell billow, and 
swim bark ! 
The storm is up, and all is on the hazard. 



HO JULIUS CAESAR [Act V 

Bru. Ho, Lucilius ! hark, a word with you. 

Lucil. [Standing forth] My lord? 

[Brutus and Lucilius converse apart. 

Cas. Messala ! 

Mes. [Standing forth'] "What says my general ? 
70 Cas. Messala, 

This is my birth-day; as this very day 
Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala : 
Be thou my witness that, against my will, 
As Pompey was, am I compelled to set 
75 Upon one battle all our liberties. 

You know that I held Epicurus strong, 
And his opinion : now I change my mind, 
And partly credit things that do presage. 
Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign 
80 Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perch 'd, 
Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands; 
"Who to Philippi here consorted us : 
This morning are they fled away and gone ; 
And in their steads do ravens, crows, and kites 
% Fly o 'er our heads and downward look on us, 
As we were sickly prey : their shadows seem 
A canopy most fatal, under which 
Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. 

Mes. Believe not so. 

Cas. I but believe it partly, 

90 For I am fresh of spirit and resolved 
To meet all perils very constantly. 

Bru. Even so, Lucilius. 

Cas. Now, most noble Brutus, 

The gods to-day stand friendly, that we may, 
Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age ! 



Scene I] JULIUS CAESAE HI 

But, since the affairs of men rest still incertain, 95 

Let 's reason with the worst that may befall. 

If we do lose this battle, then is this 

The very last time we shall speak together : 

What are you then determined to do ? 

Bru. Even by the rule of that philosophy 100 

By which I did blame Cato for the death 
Which he did give himself : I know not how, 
But I do find it cowardly and vile, 
For fear of what might fall, so to prevent 
The time of life : arming myself with patience 105 

To stay the providence of some high powers 
That govern us below. 

Cas. Then, if we lose this battle, 

You are contented to be led in triumph 
Through the streets of Rome ? 

Bru. No, Cassius, no : think not, thou noble 
Roman, 110 

That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome ; 
He bears too great a mind. But this same day 
Must end that work the ides of March begun ; 
And whether we shall meet again I know not. 
Therefore our everlasting farewell take. 115 

For ever, and for ever, farewell, Cassius ! 
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile ; 
If not, why then this parting was well made. 

Cas. For ever and for ever farewell, Brutus ! 
If we do meet again, we '11 smile indeed ; 120 

If not 'tis true this parting was well made. 

Bru. Why then, lead on. 0, that a man might 
know . 
The end of this day's business ere it come ! 



112 JULIUS CAESAR [Act V 

But it sufficeth that the day will end, 
125 And then the end is known. Come, ho ! away ! 

[Exeunt. 
Scene II. The field of battle. 
Alarum. Enter Brutus and Messala. 

Bru. Ride, ride, Messala, ride, and give these 
bills 
Unto the legions on the other side. [Loud alarum. 
Let them set on at once ; for I perceive 
But cold demeanor in Octavius' wing, 
5 And sudden push gives them the overthrow. 
Ride, ride, Messala : let them all come down. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene III. Another part of the field. 
Alarums. Enter Cassius and Titinius. 
Cas. 0, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly ! 
Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy: 
This ensign here of mine was turning back ; 
I slew the coward, and did take it from him. 
5 Tit. Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early ; 
Who, having some advantage on Octavius, 
Took it too eagerly : his soldiers fell to spoil, 
Whilst we by Antony are all enclosed. 

Enter Pindarus. 
Pin. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off ; 
10 Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord : 
Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off. 

Cas. This hill is far enough. Look, look, 
Titinius ; 
Are those my tents where I perceive the fire ? 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 113 

Tit. They are my lord. 

Cas. Titinius, if thou lovest me, 

Mount on my horse and hide thy spurs in him, 15 
Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops 
And here again ; that I may rest assured 
Whether yond troops are friend or enemy. 

Tit. I will be here again, even with a thought. 

[Exit. 

Cas. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill; 20 
My sight was ever thick ; regard Titinius, 
And tell me what thou notest about the field. 

[Pindarus ascends the hill. 
This day I breathed first : time is come round, 
And where I did begin, there shall I end ; 
My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news ? 25 

Pin. [Above.'] my lord! 

Cas. What news? 

Pin. [Above.] Titinius is enclosed round about 
With horsemen, that make to him on the spur ; 
Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30 
Now, Titinius ! Now some light. 0, he lights, 

too. 
He's t a 'en. [Shout.] And, hark! they shout for 

joy. 
Cas. Come down; behold no more. 
0, coward that I am, to live so long, 
To see my best friend ta 'en before my face ! 35 

Pindarus descends. 

Come hither, sirrah : 

In Parthia did I take thee prisoner; 

And then I swore thee, saving of thy life, 



114 JULIUS CAESAE [Act V 

That whatsoever I did bid thee do, 
40 Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine 
oath ; 
Now be a freeman; and with this good sword, 
That ran through Caesar's bowels, search this 

bosom. 
Stand not to answer: here, take thou the hilts; 
And when my face is cover 'd, as 'tis now, 
45 Guide thou the sword. [Pindarus stabs him.] 
Caesar, thou art revenged, 
Even with the sword that kill 'd thee. [Dies. 

Pin. So, I am free ; yet would not so have been, 
Durst I have done my will. Cassius! 
Far from this country Pindarus shall run, 
53 Where never Roman shall take note of him. [Exit. 

Re-enter Titinius with Messala. 

Mes. It is but change, Titinius ; for Octavius 
Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power, 
As Cassius' legions are by Antony. 

Tit. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. 
55 Tit. All disconsolate, 

Mes. Where did you leave him? 
With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill. 

Mes. Is not that he that lies upon the ground ? 

Tit. He lies not like the living. my heart ! 

Mes. Is not that he ? 

Tit. No, this was he, Messala, 

60 But Cassius is no more. setting sun, 
As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night, 
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set, 



Scene III] JULIUS CAESAR 115 

The sun of Rome is set ! Our day is gone ; 
Clouds, dews, and dangers, come ; our deeds are 
done! 

Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. 65 

Mes. Mistrust of good success hath done this 
deed. 

hateful error, melancholy's child, 
"Why dost thus show to the apt thoughts of men 
The things that are not ? error, soon conceived, 
Thou never comest unto a happy birth, 70 

But kill 'st the mother that engendered thee! 
Tit. What, Pindarus! where art thou, Pin- 
darus? 

Mes. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet 
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report 
Into his ears: I may say 'thrusting' it, 75 

For piercing steel and darts envenomed 
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus 
As tidings of this sight. 

Tit. Hie you, Messala, 

And I will seek for Pindarus the while. 

[Exit Messala. 
Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius? so 
Did I not meet thy friends? and did not they 
Put on my brows this wreath of victory, 
And bid me give it thee? Didst thou not hear 

their shouts? 
Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing! 
But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow; 85 
Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I 
Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace, 



116 JULIUS CAESAR [Act V 

And see how I regarded Caius Cassius. 
By your leave, gods : this is a Roman 's part : 
90 Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. 

[Kills himself. 

Alarum. Re-enter Messala, with Brutus, young 
Cato, and others. 

Bru. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie ? 
Mes. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it. 
Bru. Titinius' face is upward. 
Cato. He is slain. 

Bru. Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! 
95 Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 
In our own proper entrails. [Low alarums. 

Cato. Brave Titinius! 

Look, whether he have not crown 'd dead Cassius ! 
Bru. Are yet two Romans living such as these ? 
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well! 
loo It is impossible that ever Rome 

Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe more 

tears 
To this dead man than you shall see me pay. 
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time. 
Come therefore, and to Thasos send his body: 
105 His funerals shall not be in our camp, 
Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come, 
And come, young Cato : let us to the field. 
Labeo and Flavius, set our battles on. 
'Tis three o'clock: and, Romans, yet ere night 
no We shall try fortune in a second fight. [Exeunt. 



Scene IV] JULIUS CAESAE 117 

Scene IV. Another part of the field. 

Alarum. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both armies; 

then Brutus, young Cato, Lucilius, 

and others. 

Bru. Yet, countrymen, 0, yet hold up your 

heads ! 
Cato. What bastard doth not? Who will go 
with me? 
I will proclaim my name about the field. 
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 
A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend; 
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 

Bru. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I; 
Brutus, my country 's friend ; know me for Brutus ! 

[Exit. 
Lucil. young and noble Cato, art thou down ? 
Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius, 10 

And mayst be honor 'd, being Cato's son. 
First Sol. Yield, or thou diest. 
Lucil. Only I yield to die: 

[Offering money.] There is so much that thou wilt 

kill me straight; 
Kill Brutus, and be honor 'd in his death. 

First Sol. We must not. A noble prisoner ! 15 
Sec. Sol. Room, ho ! Tell Antony, Brutus is 

ta'en. 
First Sol. I'll tell the news. Here comes the 
general. 

Enter Antony. 

Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord. 
Ant. Where is he? 



118 JULIUS CAESAR [Act V 

20 Lucil. Safe, Antony; Brutus is safe enough: 
I dare assure thee that no enemy 
Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus: 
The gods defend him from so great a shame ! 
When you do find him, or alive or dead, 

26 He will be found like Brutus, like himself. 

Ant. This is not Brutus, friend, but I assure 
you, 
A prize no less in worth : keep this man safe, 
Give him all kindness : I had rather have 
Such men my friends than enemies. Go on, 

30 And see whether Brutus be alive or dead, 
And bring us word unto Octavius' tent 
How everything is chanced. [Exeunt. 

Scene V. Another part of the field. 

Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, and 
Volumnius. 

Bru. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on 

this rock. 
Cli. Statilius show'd the torch -light, but, my 
lord, 
He came not back : he is or ta'en or slain. 
Bru. Sit thee down, Clitus : slaying is the word ; 
5 It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus, 

[Whispering. 
Cli. What, I, my lord? No, not for all the 

world. 
Bru. Peace then, no words. 
Cli. I'll rather kill myself. 

Bru. Hark thee, Dardanius. [Whispering, 



Scene V] JULIUS CAESAR 119 

Bar. Shall I do such a deed? 

Cli. Dardinius ! 

Bar. Clitus! 10 

Cli. What ill request did Brutus make to thee? 

Bar. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates. 

Cli. Now is that noble vessel full of grief, 
That it runs over even at his eyes. 

Bru. Come hither, good Volumnius ; list a word, is 

Vol. What says my lord? 

Bru. Why, this, Volumnius : 

The ghost of Caesar hath appear 'd to me 
Two several times by night ; at Sardis once, 
And this last night here in Philippi fields : 
I know my hour is come. 

Vol. Not so, my lord. 20 

Bru. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. 
Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes; 
Our enemies have beat us to the pit : 

[Low alarums. 
It is more worthy to leap in ourselves 
Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius, 25 
Thou know 'st that we two went to school together : 
Even for that our love of old, I prithee, 
Hold my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it. 

Vol. That's not an office for a friend, my lord. 

[Alarum still. 

Cli. Fly, fly, my lord; there is no tarrying 
here. 30 

Bru. Farewell to you; and you; and you, 
Volumnius. 
Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep ; 
Farewell to thee, too, Strato. Countrymen, 



120 JULIUS CAESAE [Act V 

My heart doth joy that yet in all my life 
35 I found no man but he was true to me. 
I shall have glory by this losing day, 
More than Octavius and Mark Antony 
By this vile conquest shall attain unto. 
So, fare you well at once; for Brutus' tongue 
40 Hath almost ended his life's history: 

Night hangs upon mine eyes ; my bones would rest, 
That have but labor 'd to attain this hour. 

[Alarum. Cry within. 'Fly, fly, fly!' 
Cli. Fly, my lord, fly. 

Bru. Hence! I will follow. 

[Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius. 
I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord : 
45 Thou art a fellow of good respect; 

Thy life hath had some smatch of honor in it : 
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, 
"While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato? 
Stra. Give me your hand first : fare you well, 

my lord. 
Bru. Farewell, good Strato. 

[Runs on his sword. 

50 Caesar, now be still : 

I kill 'd not thee with half so good a will. [Dies. 

Alarum. Retreat. Enter Octavius, Antony, 
Messala, Lucilius, and the army. 

Oct. What man is that ? 

Mes. My master's man. Strato, where is thy 
master ? 

Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Mes- 
sala: 



Scene V] JULIUS CAESAE 121 

The conquerors can but make a fire of him ; 55 

For Brutus only overcame himself, 

And no man else hath honor by his death. 

Lucil. So Brutus should be found. I thank 
thee, Brutus, 
That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true. 

Oct. All that served Brutus, I will entertain 
them. 60 

Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me? 

Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you. 

Oct. Do so, good Messala. 

Mes. How died my master, Strato? 

Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. 65 

Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, 
That did the latest service to my master. 

Ant. This was the noblest Eoman of them, all : 
All the conspirators, save only he, 
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar; 70 

He only, in a general honest thought 
And common good to all, made one of them. 
His life was gentle, and the elements 
So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world 'This was a man!' 75 

Oct. According to his virtue let us use him, 
With all respect and rites of burial. 
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie, 
Most like a soldier, order 'd honorably. 
So call the field to rest, and let's away, so 

To part the glories of this happy day. [Exeunt. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES AND 
COMMENTS 

ACT I 

Scene 1 

3. Being mechanical. Being mechanics or laborers. 

4. Sign of your profession. Working garb. 

10. In respect of. In comparison with. 

11. But a cobbler. Only a bungler. 

12. Answer me directly. Answer me without evasion. 
15. Bad soles. Note the quibble, and compare with 

Gratiano 's speech, ' ' Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, 
harsh Jew." — Mer. of Ven. IV, 1. Note also how the 
words soles, out, awl, and recover are used with double 
meanings. 

36. His triumph. In honor of Caesar's triumph over 
Pompey's sons at the Battle of Munda in Spain, March 17, 
B. C. 45. 

37. Wherefore rejoice. "After the low and farcical 
jests of the saucy cobbler the eloquence of the Eoman 
Tribune, Marullus, 'springs upwards like a pyramid of 

fire' It can be no exaggeration to say that these 

lines are among the most magnificent in the English lan- 
guage. They roll over my mind's ear like the lordliest 
notes of a cathedral organ, and yet they succeed imme- 
diately to the ludicrous idea of a cobbler leading a parcel 
of fools about the streets, in order to make them wear 
out their shoes and get himself into more work." 
[Campbell.] 

51. Replication. Echo. (Derivation: Latin — re, again 
+ plico, to fold.) 

56. Pompey's blood. Pompey's sons. 

72. Lupercal. The Lupercalia was a festival in honor 
of Lupercus, the old Italian god of fertility, held on the 
15th of February. 

123 



124 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

75. The vulgar. The common people. (Derivation: 
Latin, valgus, crowd.) 

Scene 2 

4. When he doth run his course. Priests of Lupercus 
ran through the streets, striking with leather thongs all 
whom they met, to symbolize the purification of the 
people and the land. 

19. Ides of March. March 15th. Sennett. A signal of 
exit or entrance sounded on a trumpet. 

40. Passions. Vehement feelings that involve suffer- 
ing, (ttclvkw — pasco — to suffer.) 

40. Of some difference. Contending with each other. 

41. Only proper to myself. Belonging only to myself. 
(Latin proprius- — one's own.) 

54. 'Tis just. 'Tis true. Compare with Ben Jonson's 
use of just in his poem, ' ' True Perfection ' ' : 

1 It is not growing like a tree 
J In bulk doth make man better be; 
Or standing long an oak three hundred year, 
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere; 

A lily of a day 

Is fairer far in May, 
Although it fall and die that night — 
It was the plant and flower of Light. 
In small proportions we just beauty see; 
And in small measures life may perfect be. 

59. Best respect. Most highly respected. 

71. Jealous on me. Suspicious of me. 

73. To stale. To make common or to cheapen. 

76. Scandal them. Slander them. 

77. Profess myself. Make professions of love and 
friendship. 

87. Indifferently. Without fear or concern. 
109. Hearts of controversy. Courage that contends 
with obstacles. 

129. Temper. Temperament, disposition. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 125 

140. In our stars. A reference to the belief that the 
planet under which a man was born governed his tern* 
perament, and the particular conjunction of planets (con- 
stellation); his destiny. 

142. What should be in that Caesar? What virtue 
should there be in the mere name Caesar? 

162. Nothing jealous. In no wise doubtful. 

171. Chew. Euminate. 

197. Well given. Well disposed. 

235. I can as well, etc. "It is always instructive to 
note how in parts where a conversational, not tragic or 
poetical, effect is desired, verse gives place to prose, and 
vice versa; and how characters which are viewed in a 
wholly tragic or poetical light normally use verse alone. 
Thus in this scene, while Casca gives his description in 
prose, Brutus and Cassius make their comments and ques- 
tions in verse; and Casca himself speaks entirely in verse 
at his next appearance, where the interest is purely 
tragic." [Verity.] 

256. Falling sickness. Epilepsy. 

268. An. If. 

269. Of any occupation. Of action. 
300. Quick mettle. Lively in spirit. 

303. Tardy form. Appearance of sloth and indiffer- 
ence. 

311. Think of the world. Think of the present state 
of affairs in the world. 

314. From that it is disposed. From its natural ten- 
dencies. 

317. Bear me hard. Bear me ill will. 

319. Humor me. Cajole me. 

325-326. Note the rimed couplet, frequently used by 
Shakespeare to end a scene. 

Scene 3 

3. Sway of earth. Swing or motion of earth; hence 
the established order of things. 

32. Climate. Clime or region. 



126 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

58. You do want. You do lack. 

89. I know where, etc. "Shakespeare has very art- 
fully contrived to present a more favorable portrait of 
Cassius than that which the page of history warrants, 
without, however, so misrepresenting him as to destroy 
the identity of his character. With reference to dramatic 
effect, indeed, some change was necessary. Brutus could 
only, with propriety, be associated in private friendship 
and in public undertakings, with a man who, in outward 
appearance at least, possessed some claim to equality with 
him. The poet, therefore, suppressed the vindictiveness, 
cruelty, and tyranny of Cassius, and gave the utmost 
effect to the fire and energy which characterized him, and 
particularly marked his abhorrence of living under the 
control of an arbitrary monarch. Shakespeare has made 
Cassius 's hatred of Caesar sufficiently apparent; but so 
repeatedly is his love of liberty enforced that the patriot, 
rather than the malignant avenger of his own wrongs, 
appears to strike against the tyrant." [Skottowe.] 

110. Base matter to illuminate. "Worthless material to 
glorify. 

114. My answer must be made. I must answer for 
what I have said. 

118. Factious. Active. (Latin — facio, do.) 

135. One incorporate to our attempts. One associated 
with us in our enterprise. 

143. Praetor's chair. "His (Brutus 's) tribunal or 
chair, where he gave audience during the time he was 
Praetor, was full of such bills: 'Brutus, thou art asleep, 
and art not Brutus, indeed. ' ' ' [Plutarch, Life of Brutus.] 

162. You have well conceited. You have well con- 
ceived or imagined. 
/ 

Scene 1 ACT n " 

Stage setting : " This scene in Brutus 's garden, by 
moonlight, requires careful attention. On the right, half 
concealed by the shrubbery, is a semicircular marble 
bench, on which, at the rising of the curtain, Brutus is 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 127 

seated in deep thought. On the left is seen the entrance 
to Brutus 's house, showing a vestibule with columns, 
dimly illuminated by a hanging lamp. The whole back- 
ground is filled in with high bushes, from the shade of 
which the conspirators cautiously emerge. [Oechelhaiiser.] 

15. That. Suppose that done. 

20. When his affection swayed. When his emotions 
governed. 

29. Will bear no color for the thing he is. Will find 
no excuse for assassination on the score of what he is now. 

44. Exhalations. Outbreathings. (Latin — ex, out + 
halo, breathe.) In this case, lightning flashes are the ex- 
halations of the storm. 

66. Genius and the mortal instruments. Governing 
spirit and bodily powers. 

70. Your brother Cassius. Cassius had married Bru- 
tus 's sister Junia. 

83. If thou path. If thou walk. 

84. Erebus. "Of the five divisions of Hades, Erebus 
was, probably, the third. Shakespeare, however, seems to 
identify it with Tartarus, the lowest deep of the infernal 
world." [Hudson.] 

101-110. "'Other poets would have made the inferior 
men exchange words, and cross swords, and whisper, and 
ejaculate. He makes everything depend upon the deter- 
mination of Brutus and Cassius Is this nature? The 

truest and most profound nature. The minds of all men 
thus disencumber themselves, in the moments of the most 
anxious suspense, from the pressure of an overwhelming 
thought. There is real relief if some accidental circum- 
stance can produce this disposition of the mind to go out 
of itself for an instant or two of f orgetf ulness. " 
[Knight.] 

114. Face of men. The dejected look of men. 

118. Highlighted. "There seems to be an implied 
comparison of tyranny to an eagle or bird of prey, whose 
keen eye discovers its victim from the highest pitch of 
its flight." [Wright.] 



128 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

129. Swear. Imperative mode. 

138. A several infamy. An individual baseness or 
treachery. 

144. Silver hairs. Old age. Explain the metonymy. 

174. Not hew him. Plutarch says, * ' Caesar turned 
himselfe no where but he was stricken at by some, and 
still had naked swords in his face, and was hacked and 
mangled among them, as a wild beast taken of hunters. ' ' 

176. Their servants. The "mortal instruments" or 
bodily powers that are controlled by the "hearts," here 
spoken of as subtle or cunning "masters." 

180. Purgers. Cleansers or purifiers. Brutus thought 
that the conspirators would purify the state by ridding it 
of tyranny. 

183. Yet I fear him. There should be a marked_pause 
before this utterance. Cassius thus makes his instinctive 
fear of Antony more dramatically effective. The reader 
"or actor should note the effect of various deliberate pauses 
in the play. Eineness of dramatic effect and the phonetic 
beauty' of poetry are frequently lost through reading the 
lines too hurriedly. Enunciate each word clearly, and 
give it the required emphasis. 

196. Quite from the main opinion. Quite contrary to 
the firm opinion. Compare our expression, "by main 
strength. ' ' 

224. Look fresh and merrily. Compare "To beguile 

the time, look like the time look like the innocent 

flower, but be the serpent under it. ' ' — Macbeth, I, v, 64-67. 

227. Formal constancy. Dignified firmness or self- 
possession. 

271. I charm you. I conjure' you. Compare the verbs 
con'jure and conjure' in meaning. Learn to distinguish 
between them. "Which one is used in line 323? 

323. Exorcist. Distinguish between the verbs exorcise 
and exercise. 

324. Mortified. Deadened or lifeless. (Latin, mors — 
death.) 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 129 

Scene 2 

5. Present. Immediate. Note that present and pres- 
ently usually have this meaning in Shakespeare's plays. 
Compare with the modern meaning of presently and decide 
which is the more accurate use of the word. 

13. Stood on ceremonies. Eegarded auguries seriously. 
25. Beyond all use. Beyond all custom or precedent. 
89. Cognizance. A term used in heraldry to signify a 

badge. 

102. My dear, dear love to your proceeding. Friendly 
interest in your career. 

104. And reason to my love is liable. "Keason or 
propriety of language is subordinate to my love. ' ' [John- 
son.] Decius thus intimates that he has spoken perhaps 
more freely and boldly than he should simply because he 
has such a deep interest in Caesar's welfare. 

128. Every like. Every "like" is not the same; that 
is, "like friends" doesn't necessarily imply true friend- 
ship, but rather (as in this case) the semblance or appear- 
ance of friendship. 

Scene 3 

14. Out of the teeth of emulation. Beyond the reach 
of envy. 

16. Fates with traitors do contrive. Fates join with 
traitors in contriving destruction. 

Scene 4 

Scene 4. "Such side-scenes as this give us the impres- 
sions of those who are watching the course of events from 
a little distance, and we seem to join them as spectators; 
here, for instance, we cannot help feeling something of 
Portia's anxiety as she waits for news and suddenly 
thinks that she hears a sound from the direction of the 
Capitol." [Verity.] 

Enter Portia. l e This scene serves the function in 

the main story of heightening our excitement by means of 
Portia's, in expectation of what will presently be enacted 
at the Capitol; but it is even more important for the light 



130 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

it throws on her character. She may well confess: 'I 
have a man's heart, but a woman's might.' Her feverish 
anxiety quite overmasters her throughout, and makes her 
do and say things which do not disclose the plot only 

because the bystanders are faithful or unobservant 

For her, as for Brutus, the burden of a duty which she 
assumes by her own choice, but which one of her nature 
must assume, is too heavy. And in the after conse- 
quences, for which she is not directly responsible, but 
which none the less flow from the deed that she has 
encouraged and approved, it is the same inability to bear 
suspense, along with her craving for her husband's pres- 
ence and success, that drives her through madness to 
death." [MacCallum.] 

ACT III 
Scene 1 

22. Be constant. Be calm or self-possessed. 

28. Presently. Compare with Act II, Scene 2, line 5. 

29. He is address 'd. He is prepared. 
67. Apprehensive. Intelligent. 

94. Abide this deed. Answer for this deed. 

Enter a servant. "This simple stage-direction is the 
' catastrophe, ' the turning round of the whole action; the 
arch has reached its apex and the Eeaction has begun. 
So instantaneous is the change that, though it is only the 
servant of Antony who speaks, yet the first words of his 
message ring with the subtly-poised sentences which are 
inseparably associated with Antony's eloquence; it is 
like the first announcement of that which is to be the 
final theme in music, and from this point this theme domi- 
nates the scene to the very end In the whole Shake- 
spearean Drama there is nowhere such a swift swinging 
round of a dramatic action as is here marked by this 
sudden upspringing of the suppressed individuality in 
Antony's character, hitherto so colorless that he has been 
spared by the conspirators as a mere limb of Caesar." 
[Moulton — Shakespeare as Dramatic Artist.] 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 131 

145. My misgiving falls shrewdly to the purpose. My 

suspicions are shrewd or clever enough to hit the mark. 

145. Still. Always. 

148. O mighty Caesar. "Wilks, as soon as he 

entered the stage, without taking any notice of the con- 
spirators, walked swiftly up to the dead body of Caesar 
and knelt down: he paused some time before he spoke; 
and, after surveying the corpse with manifest tokens of 
the deepest sorrow, he addressed it in a most affecting and 
pathetic manner." [Davies, II, 242.] 

152. Must be let blood. Must be put to death. 

152. Rank. Full-blooded — a reference to the old prac- 
tice of bleeding patients. 

160. Apt to die. Eeady to die. 

184. Let each man render me his bloody hand. "The 
quick subtlety of Antony's intellect has grasped the whole 
situation, and, with irresistible force, he slowly feels his 
way toward using the conspirators' aid for crushing them- 
selves and avenging their victim. The bewilderment of 
the conspirators in the. presence of this unlooked-for force 
is seen in Cassius 's unavailing attempt to bring Antony 
to the point, as to what compact he will make with them. 
Antony, on the contrary, reads his men with such nicety 
that he can indulge himself in sailing close to the wind, 
and grasps fervently the hands of the assassins while he 
pours out a flood of bitter grief over the corpse. It is not 
hypocrisy, not a trick to gain time, this conciliation of his 
enemies. Steeped in the political spirit of the age, Antony 
knows, like no other man, the mob which governs Eome, 
and is conscious of the mighty engine he possesses in his 
oratory to sway that mob in what direction he pleases; 
when his bold plan has succeeded, and his adversaries 
have consented to meet him in a contest of oratory, then 
ironical concilation becomes the natural relief to his 
pent-up passion: 'Friends am I with you all and love you 
all.' It is as he feels the sense of innate oratorical power 
and of the opportunity his enemies have given to that 
power that he exaggerates his temporary amity with the 



132 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

men he is about to crush; it is the executioner arranging 
his victim comfortably on the rack before he proceeds to 
apply the levers. " [Moulton — Shakespeare as Dramatic 
Artist.] 

206. Lethe. Probably a reference to Lethe, the myth- 
ical river of Oblivion. Here, the blood-stream bearing 
Caesar to death or Oblivion. 

213. Modesty. Moderation, as often in Shakespeare's 
plays. 

271. Ate. Greek goddess of malicious mischief incit- 
ing men to folly and crime. (Greek — ate, mischief.) 

273. Cry "Havoc." In military operations of old 
•times the cry "Havoc" signified that no quarter should 
be given. 

273. Dogs of war. Famine, Sword, and Fire are here 
thought of as the dogs of war. 

292-293. Try how the people take. Test or sound the 
feelings of the people to find out how they take Caesar's 
death. 

Scene 2 

13. Lovers. Friends. 

15. Have respect to. Take into consideration. 

16. Censure. Judge. (Der. Latin — censeo, judge.) 

41. Extenuated. Lessened, minimized. 

42. Enforced. Emphasized, magnified. 

177. The Nervii. A warlike Belgic tribe conquered by 
Caesar in one of his Gallic campaigns, B. C. 57. 
246. Drachmas. A drachma was about twenty cents. 
263. Forms. Benches. 

Scene 3 

1. To-night. Last night. 

2. Charge my fantasy. Fill my mind with fancies. 

9. Directly. Without evasion. Compare Act I, Scene 
1, line 12. 

28. My name is Cinna. Helvius Cinna. The con- 
spirator was Cornelius Cinna. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 133 

ACT IV 
Scene 1 

1. These many then shall die, etc. < ' The scene of the 
triumvirs in consultation, which precedes that of the 
quarrel between Brutus and Cassius, is admirably invented 
to define the characterization of either party. The pro- 
scription with which they commence deprives them of all 
moral superiority to the so-called traitors and murderers 
they are leagued against, and the little delicacy they 
evince in tampering with the will of the friend whose 
death they are bound to avenge shows that the sacred 
motive is practically debased into a mock heroic pre- 
tence." [Lloyd.] 

1. Prick 'd. Marked; selected, by having a mark or 
punctured hole set opposite the names on a list. Line 5 
shows that a mark or "spot" was used in this case. 

32. To wind. To turn. 

34. In some taste. In some degree. 

37. Abjects, orts, and imitations. Things thrown 
away, fragments, and imitations. Abjects and orts are 
Elizabethan words. 

39. Begin his fashion. Set the fashion for him; that 
is, Lepidus is so subservient and unprogressive that he 
begins where other men leave off, adopting a certain 
method or manner of action when his associates have 
concluded to discard it. 

40. But as a property. Only as a thing belonging to 
us, and therefore under our control; a tool. 

42. Make head. Make headway. 

45. Presently. Immediately, as in Act III, scene 1, 
line 28, and Act II, scene 2, line 5. 

47. Answered. Met or faced. 

48-49. For we are at the stake, and bay'd about with 
many enemies. "We are surrounded or tormented. This, 
is a reference by metaphor to the sport of bear-baiting, 
in which the bear was tied to a stake and then set upon 
by dogs. In Twelfth Night Olivia in a conversation with 
Viola says: 



134 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

"Have you not set mine honor at the stake 
And baited it with all the unmuzzled thoughts 
That tyrannous heart can think?" 

Scene 2 

Scene 2. An interval of about a year separates the 
first and second scenes of this act. 

Stage-setting. This scene and the following may be 
acted continuously, and only one stage-setting is neces- 
sary. A tent with front curtains drawn back to disclose 
•the interior is seen in the foreground. When Cassius 
enters he and Brutus go into the tent for the quarrel 
scene; then follows the scene with Messala, and the 
appearance of the ghost. Scenes 2 and 3 are excellent 
for school production on account of the simplicity of 
setting, the variety of characters involved, and the in- 
tense dramatic interest that centers first in the quarrel 
scene, and culminates in the appearance of the ghostly 
visitant. 

6. He greets me well. His greeting is friendly. Pin- 
darus has evidently just handed a letter to Brutus. 

7. In his own change, or by ill officers. Either from 
some change in himself, or through the misconduct of his 
officers. 

10. I shall be satisfied. I shall receive satisfaction; 
that is, an explanation of his conduct. Compare with 
Act III, Scene 2, line 1. 

16. Such familiar instances. Tokens or proofs of 
familiarity. 

47. Audience. A hearing. (Der. Latin — audio, to 
hear.) 

Scene 3 

8. That every nice offence should bear his comment. 
That every trivial offence should incur criticism. Consult 
a dictionary to get the accurate meaning of nice. His 
means its. 

35. Urge me. Provoke me. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 135 

69. Which I respect not. Which I heed not. Compare 
Act III, Scene 2, line 15. 

75. By any indirection. By any crooked method. 
Note the inconsistency of Brutus in charging Cassius with 
obtaining gold by wrong means, and then blaming him for 
not sending that very gold to pay the legions. 

80. Rascal counters. Paltry coins, unworthily ob- 
tained. Compare with the modern expression, filthy lucre. 
96. Check' d. Sharply reproved. 

108. Dishonor shall be humor. Any indignity offered 
by you shall be attributed to your disposition— shall be a 
subject for jest. 

146. Portia is 'dead. Shakespeare, in his infinite pity 
for human error and frailty, makes us love Brutus and 
Cassius the better through the little wrongs which bring 
the great wealth of their love and true fraternity to 
light When their hearts are tenderest comes the con- 
fession of the sorrow which Brutus could not utter as 
long as a shadow lay between his soul and his friend's." 
[Dowden.] 

157. Speak no more of her. " Brutus is sustained by 
the spirit of Portia. To live in her spirit of Stoicism 
becomes now the highest act of religion to her mem- 
ory The armed men talking so gravely, before the 

great day which is to decide the fate of the world, of 
the ' insupportable and touching loss ' make us know what 
this woman was. Profound emotion, Shakespeare was 
aware, can express itself quietly and with reserve." 
[Dowden.] 

165. Portia, art thou gone. This " aside" was evi- 
dently heard by Brutus, but could not have been heard by 
Messala, else he would have known that Brutus had 
received the news of Portia's death. 

236. Good night, my lord. "It is a wonderful touch 

that, at the end of this scene, in which Cassius has felt 

the strength of Brutus and been cowed by it, he calls him 

(for the only time in the whole play) 'my lord.' No 

wonder, then, that, when Brutus unfolds his plan about 



136 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

Philippi, Cassius, although he does not like it, gives way. 
Over-generosity makes Brutus forgive too much; over- 
admiration makes Cassius surrender his better judgment. ' ' 
[Mark Hunter.] 

274. How ill this taper burns. It was commonly be- 
lieved in Shakespeare's time that lights grew dim or 
burned blue at the approach of spectres. Compare with 
one stanza from James Whitcomb Biley's poem, "Little 
Orphant Annie" : 

"An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue, 
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo! 
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray, 
An' the lightnin '-bugs in dew is all squenched away, — 
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs kind an' 

dear, 
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant 's 

tear, 
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about, 
Er the Gobble-uns '11 git you 
Ef you 
Don't 
Watch 
Out!" 

305. Set on his powers betimes. Proceed with his 
forces early. 

305. Before. In advance; in the van or front rank of 
the army. 

ACT V 

Scene 1 

Act V. This act requires but one stage-setting. A 
floor covering of dark cloth (preferably burlap) laid 
loosely will create the illusion of a rough plain. The 
raising and lowering of the curtain after each brief scene 
will sufficiently produce the effect of a change from one 
part of the battle-field to another. In amateur perform- 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 137 

ances the energy and ingenuity of the young actors may 
be spent better upon the interpretation of the parts than 
upon the arrangement of settings and the selection of 
costumes. 

4. Battles. Forces. 

10. Fearful bravery. Cowardly bravado. 

10. Face. Boldness, show of courage. 

20. I will do so. I will do as I have said. 

33. The posture of your blows. The effect of your 
blows. 

34. Hybla. A town in Sicily famous for its honey. 
79. Our former ensign. Our forward ensign. 

96. Reason with the worst. Act upon the supposition 
that the worst may befall, though still hoping for the best. 

Scene 2 

1. Bills. Despatches. 

2. Legions on the other side. The left wing com- 
manded by Cassius. 

Scene 3 

18. Yond troops. Messala and his escort. 

23. The day I breathed first. This is my birthday. 

31. Now, Titinius. Pindarus in his excitement calls to 
Titinius as if he could hear him. 

60. O setting sun. "As the conspiracy at its stormy 
beginning was set with a dramatic background of actual 
tempest, so its decay and death is dramatically symbolized 
by setting sun and growing darkness." [Mark Hunter.] 

94. O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet. ' ' The final 
issue of the conspiracy, as represented by Shakespeare, 
is a pretty conclusive argument of the blunder, not to say 
crime, of its authors. Caesar, dead, tears them and their 
cause all to pieces. In effect they did but stab him into 
mightier life; so that Brutus might well say: 'O Julius 
Caesar, thou art mighty yet.' " [Hudson.] 

106. Lest it discomfort us. Lest it dishearten us. 



138 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

Scene 4 

2. What bastard doth not. Who is so base as not to. 
12. Only I yield to die. Death alone can make me 
yield. 

Scene 5 

2. Statilius show'd the torch-light. "Brutus thought 
that there was no great number of men slain in battle: 
and to know the truth of it, there was one called Statilius, 
that promised to go through his enemies, for otherwise it 
was impossible to go see their camp: and from thence, if 
all were well, that he would lift up a torch-light in the 
air, and then return again with speed to him. The torch- 
light was lifted up as he had promised, for Statilius went 
thither. Now Brutus, seeing Statilius tarry long after 
that, and that he came not again, he said: 'If Statilius 
be alive he will come again.' ' ' [Plutarch.] 

45. Of a good respect. Of a good reputation. 

50. Caesar, now be still. Caesar, rest avenged. 

59. Lucilius' saying. Act V, Scene 4, lines 20-22. 

60. Entertain. Take into service. 

68. This was the noblest Roman of them all. "The 
life of Brutus, as the lives of such men must be, was a 
good life, in spite of its disastrous fortunes. He had 
found no man who was not true to him. And he had 
known Portia. The idealist was predestined to failure in 
the positive world. But for him the true failure would 
have been disloyalty to his ideals. Of such failure he 
suffered none. Octavius and Mark Antony remained 
victors at Philippi. Yet the purest wreath of victory 
rests upon the forehead of the defeated conspirator. i ' 
[Dowden.] 

81. To part the gloriest To share the honors. 



QUESTIONS 

ACT I 

Scene 1 

1. What is meant by the spirit of a scene? 

2. What spirit predominates in the first half of the 
scene? 

3. Where is the turning point? 

4. How does the latter part of the scene differ in tone 
or spirit from the first part ? 

5. What is the musical significance of the word key- 
note? 

6. Does Shakespeare strike the keynote of this play 
in the first scene? 

7. From the spirit displayed in the first scene of any 
Shakespearian play, is it possible to determine whether 
the play is to be a tragedy or a comedy? As a test, read 
the first scenes of Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice. 

8. What is a pun? What puns do you find in this 
scene? Why is punning regarded as a low form of wit? 

9. What triumph were the people preparing to cele- 
brate? 

10. Which of the two tribunes was the more grave and 
severe*? 

11. Why is prose employed for the speeches of the com- 
moners and poetry for the speeches of the tribunes? 

12. The poet Longfellow says,, in The Psalm of Life: 

"Be not like dumb driven cattle, 
Be a hero in the strife." 

Select specific lines as evidence that the Eoman com- 
moners were "like dumb driven cattle." 

13. What line shows that Flavius regarded them in 
this light? 

139 



140 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

14. Why did the people obey the tribunes'? 

15. Were the people democratic or monarchical in 
spirit? 

16. How do they differ from American citizens? 

17. Did Marullus use argument or persuasion to win 
the people? 

18. What is parallel construction? How is it twice 
used effectively in Marullus' speech? 

19. W T hat conflicting forces do you find in this scene? 
Which force favored Caesar? Which was subjugated by 
the other? 

20. How does this scene point toward the overthrow of 
Caesar? 

Scene 2 

1. Why is Caesar the last one to be mentioned in 
Scene 1 and the first to speak in Scene 2? 

2. What speech at the beginning of the scene seems 
to indicate that Casca was one of Caesar's trusted 
followers? 

3. Does this speech ring true? In what spirit was it 
uttered? 

4. Does his second speech give the same impression? 

5. What other important characters are introduced? 

6. Does the soothsayer speak before he is seen? Why 
is this effective? 

7. In what way do the three utterances of the sooth- 
sayer form a dramatic climax? Why is three a dramatic 
number? 

8. Why did Caesar speak of himself in the third 
person (Line 17) ? 

9. How many times is the expression "Ides of 
March" used? Why? 

10. Why did Caesar pay so little heed to this warning? 

11. In what mood do we find Brutus? 

12. To what do you attribute this mood? 

13. Did Cassius believe that Brutus was out of sorts 
with him? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 141 

14. What motive had he in flattering Brutus ? 

15. What reason had he for mentioning Caesar in 
Line 60? 

16. What idea had he in mind when he applied the 
term "immortal" to Caesar? 

17. What kind of mind had Brutus? 

18. What kind of mind had Cassius? 

19. Which mind was bound to overcome the other? 
Why? 

20. What speech of Brutus proves that he was nat- 
urally hostile to imperialism? 

21. Did this make him more or less ready to listen to 
Cassius ? 

22. What was Brutus' personal attitude toward Caesar? 

23. What did Brutus say he prized more than life 
itself? 

24. What motive had Cassius in saying, "Well, honor 
is the subject of my story"? 

25. What two incidents did he cite to prove Caesar 
unworthy of homage? 

26. What is the dramatic purpose of the flourishes and 
shouts heard during the conference between Cassius and 
Brutus? How did they affect Brutus? 

27. What reason had Cassius for hating Caesar? 

28. What final appeal did he make before the re- 
entrance of Caesar? 

29. Did Caesar win Brutus through argument or 
persuasion? 

30. Upon the re-entrance of Caesar, what four circum- 
stances, immediately noticed by Brutus, showed Caesar to 
disadvantage? 

31. Was Cassius supposed to hear the remarks Caesar 
made about him? 

32. What reasons have you for thinking that Caesar 
instinctively feared Cassius? 

33. What lines in Caesar's speech furnish a motive 
for Cassius' enmity? 



142 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

34. How is the plot developed by the second' with- 
drawal of Caesar and his train? 

35. In what spirit did Casca relate the story of Caesar 
and the crown? 

36. What evidently interested Cassius more than the 
story? 

37. How did Casca 's real attitude toward Caesar dif- 
fer from his apparent attitude shown at the beginning of 
the scene? 

38. What quality in Casca 's character do you dislike? 

39. Was he more or less admirable than Cassius? 
Why? 

40. How many indications can you find of Casca 's 
utter scorn for the common people? 

41. Do you think his scorn is justified? 

42. Is it likely that Casca was already in league with 
Cassius? 

43. Why are we told of the punishment inflicted on 
Marullus and Flavius? 

44. How many circumstances can you mention that 
have conspired to win Brutus? 

45. Why did Cassius especially wish to get the support 
of Brutus? 

46. Compare Brutus' last speech in this scene with the 
speech beginning, ' i That you do love me. ' ' Prove by 
means of this comparison that Brutus was yielding. 

47. How does the plot of this scene resemble the plot 
of Scene 1? 

Subject for class debate: Cassius had less influence 
with Brutus than Casca. 

Scene 3 

1. What time of night was it when Cicero and Casca 
met in the street? 

2. What sort of night was it? 

3. Why did Casca speak in verse, instead of using 
prose as he did in the preceding scene? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 143 

4. What sights, more wonderful than the "tempest 
dropping fire," did Casca assert that he had seenf 

5. Was Casca superstitious? 

6. Was Cicero a conspirator against Caesar? 

7. What qualities do you note in Cicero's character? 

8. Why was the intense darkness of the stormy night 
a fit setting for the inception of the conspiracy? 

9. Do you think that Cicero might have overheard 
the conference between Cassius and Casca? 

10. After noting Lines 79 and 80, which of the two, 
Cassius or Casca, do you find the more cautious? 

11. Why was there necessity for caution? 

12. Was the passionate scorn and grief expressed by 
Cassius in Lines 107-112 real or feigned? 

13. How did Cassius take advantage of Casca 's super- 
stitious fear in inciting him against Caesar? 

14. How did Cassius show the same skill in dealing 
with Brutus in Act I, Scene 2? 

15. Why was Casca won more easily than Brutus? 

16. Why was Casca so willing to play a leading part 
in such a dangerous enterprise? 

17. W T hat force has the word Bold in Line 117? 

18. Of what value is the comma after Hold? 

19. What lines spoken by Cassius to Cinna prove that 
Casca had really joined the conspirators? 

20. What remark made by Cassius shows that he was 
sure of securing Brutus? 

21. What progress has the conspiracy made in this 
scene? 

Subject for class discussion or debate: Kesolved, That 
the various methods employed by Cassius to win Brutus 
are justifiable. 

ACT II 

Scene 1 

1. How much time elapsed between Act I and Act II? 

2. What is a soliloquy? A monologue? 



144 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

3. Why is a soliloquy likely to reveal the true char- 
acter of the speaker? 

4. What do the four soliloquies of Brutus reveal con- 
cerning his character and mind? 

5. What argument did Brutus advance against 
Caesar? 

6. Was it of sufficient force to warrant assassination? 

7. Is your sympathy for Caesar awakened in any 
way? 

8. What do you think made Brutus mention the ides 
of March? 

9. What incident occurred at just the right moment 
to make Brutus think that he must ' ' strike ' ' for Rome ? 

10. What had evidently been Brutus' state of mind 
since the day when Cassius had first incited him against 
Caesar? 

11. Why is the interval during which Cassius and 
Brutus whispered together, full of dramatic effect? 

12. What do you think Cassius said to Brutus? 

13. Why did Shakespeare insert here the trivial con- 
troversy about the east? 

14. Does it relieve or intensify the dramatic suspense? 

15. Is the verb "swear" (Line 129) in the indicative 
or imperative mode? 

16. How can you show from Brutus' speech about 
taking oath that he was an idealist rather than a prac- 
tical man of affairs? 

17. What proposal made by Cassius shows that he 
contrasted with Brutus in this respect? 

18. Why did the conspirators wish at first to secure 
Cicero? 

19. Why. did they decide to leave him out? 

20. Why did Cassius urge the death of Antony? 

21. How did Brutus argue against his death? 

22. What prophecy was made concerning Antony by 
Trebonius? 

23. What hour did the clock strike? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 145 

24. What dramatic effect is produced by the striking 
of the clock? 

25. Why is three a more dramatic number than two or 
four? How frequently does Shakespeare make use of it? 

26. How is interest still further aroused by the inti- 
mation that Caesar may not come to" the Capitol on the 
ides of March? 

27. Who offered to bring Caesar to the Capitol, and 
what method did he propose to use? 

28. Was Caesar's character portrayed in a pleasing 
light by Decius? 

29. Do you think Brutus envied Lucius the refreshing 
slumber of innocence? If so, find four references to 
prove it. . 

30. What pleasing traits did Brutus reveal in his rela- 
tions with Lucius? In his conversation with Portia? 

31. Was Portia's desire to share Brutus' secret to be 
attributed merely to feminine curiosity? 

32. What noble traits did Portia exhibit? 

33. How did she plead her right to share the secret? 

34. How did she prove her right to share the secret? 

35. Select several passages which prove that Brutus 
had assumed the leadership of the conspiracy. 

36. What portions of this scene deal with Brutus, the 
politician; and what portions deal with Brutus, the man? 

37. In which role is he more natural and attractive? 

Scene 2 

1. How do you picture the interior of Caesar's house? 

2. What is the meaning of "present" (Line 5)? 

3. What unattractive characteristic is accentuated by 
Caesar's use of the third person in referring to himself? 

4. What use. of the dramatic number three do you 
find at the beginning of this scene? 

5. Point out the antithesis in Calpurnia's third 
speech; and also in Caesar's response. What is antithesis?/ 

6. Why was a second account of the prodigies given? 
They were first described by Casca in Act* I, Scene 3. 



146 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

7. Do you think Caesar was superstitious? If so, what 
evidence can you find to prove it? 

8. Why might Lines 13-14 inspire Caesar with fear? 

9. What proposal did Calpurnia make? 

10. Why did Caesar accede to her request? 

11. Where should Caesar have stopped in the speech 
beginning, "The cause is in my will?" 

12. What part did Decius play in the development of 
the tragedy? 

13. How did he flatter Caesar? 

14. How did he appeal to Caesar's ambitious nature? 

15. What final argument did he employ? 

16. Which one of these three points was the most 
telling? 

17. Are the three points arranged in the proper order? 
If so, why? 

18. Why didn't Cassius come with the rest to escort 
Caesar to the Capitol? 

39. What is the distinction between capitol and capital? 

20. Did Caesar appear in a favorable light in this 
scene? 

21. Are your sympathies with Caesar or with the con- 
spirators? 

22. What is the effect upon the reader of Caesar's re- 
mark (Lines 126-127)? 

23. Which of the conspirators do you think was the 
last to enter Caesar's house at his invitation? Why? 

Topic for class discussion or debate: Eesolved, That 
Caesar was a coward. 

Scene 3 

1. What is metrical prose? 

2. In reading the letter of Artemidorus try to dis- 
cover whether it is metrical. How could it be rearranged 
in verse form with a few slight changes? 

3. How does this scene increase our interest in the 
plot? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 147 

4. How does Line 15 deepen the suspense? 

5. Should this scene be combined with Scene 4? 
What arguments are there for and against this? 

Scene 4 

1. What double purpose is served by this scene? 

2. What was Portia's state of mind? 

3. What lines indicate that Portia was in possession 
of the secret? 

4. Why is this scene more dramatic than any other 
scene in this act. Mention all the circumstances that make 
it exciting. 

5. Is the reader to a certain degree thrown into a 
state of mind similar to Portia's? Why? 

6. In what way is this scene similar to the one in 
Scott's "Ivanhoe" where Eebecca describes the siege of 
Torquilstone for the benefit of the wounded Ivanhoe? 

7. Does your admiration for Portia intensify or dimin- 
ish your sympathy for Brutus? Why? 

Subject for class discussion or debate: Besolved, That 
Portia was more womanly than Calpurnia. 



ACT III 

Scene 1 

1. What effect would be lost if the first two lines 
were omitted? 

2. What admirable quality did Caesar show in the 
speech, "What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd"? 

3. Why did Decius, Publius, and Cassius try to pre- 
vent Caesar from reading the message of Artemidorus? 

4. Why did Cicero fail to keep the appointment im- 
plied in Act I, Scene 3, lines 36-38? 

5. Are your sympathies with the conspirators or with 
Caesar? 

6. What did Popilius Lena say and do to deepen the 
suspense? 



148 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

7. How do you account for the fact that Brutus 
showed more self-control than Cassius at that critical 
moment? 

8. Who sought to draw Antony away from Caesar? 

9. Why was this done? 

10. Who was the first to "prefer his suit" to Caesar? 

11. How did he prosper? 

12. Can you find passages in Act II, Scene 2, to con- 
tradict what Caesar said in Lines 39-43? 

13. What proofs of Caesar's arrogance can you find 
in this scene? 

14. What in Caesar's manner and tone would serve to 
urge the conspirators on to assassinate him? 

15. How does this scene illustrate the old saying, 
"Pride goeth before a fall." 

16. What do the last two speeches of Caesar indicate 
about his personal regard for Brutus? 

17. What emotions are voiced in the words, "Et tu, 
Brute"? 

18. Was the manner of Caesar's death in accordance 
with Act II, Scene 1, Lines 172-174? 

19. After Caesar's death why did Cassius inquire about 
Antony? 

20. What incident in Act II showed that Cassius feared 
Antony? 

21. Where in this scene does the reaction against the 
conspirators set in? 

22. Was Antony's influence suggested and felt before 
he entered? In what two ways? 

23. What did Cassius think of his own power to judge 
men? 

24. Why did Antony disregard Brutus' greeting? 

25. What line of Antony's first speech probably car- 
ried hidden sarcasm? 

26. Was Antony's affection for Caesar entirely sincere? 

27. What evidence can you find in preceding scenes 
to show that he was an ardent follower of Caesar? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 149 

28. What sort of man was Antony, judging from what 
others have said of him in previous scenes? 

29. What speech of Brutus' might have suggested to 
Antony the idea of addressing the people at Caesar's 
funeral? 

30. Why was Cassius anxious to find out whether An- 
tony was to be a friend or a foe? What were his exact 
words to Antony? 

31. What answer did Antony make to Cassius? 

32. What did Brutus say concerning the reasons for 
Caesar's death? 4 

33. What idea was growing in Antony 's mind when he 
humbly asserted, "That's all I seek"? 

34. Why did Cassius urge Brutus not to grant Antony's 
petition to speak at Caesar's funeral? 

35. On what other occasion did the wills of Cassius 
and Brutus clash concerning Antony? 

36. How does Line 237 show that Brutus did not 
understand the character of the Roman people? 

37. How did Brutus reveal his confidence in himself 
and his faith in the justice and honor of his enterprise? 

38. If the spirit of Antony's fiery soliloquy could be 
expressed in one word, what word would you choose? 

39. What incidents in this scene arouse in the reader 
a feeling of pity for Caesar? 

40. Why is the servant's grief significant? 

41. What three references to the people do you find 
in this scene? 

42. Judging from Act I, Scene 1, can you foretell the 
effect of Antony's oration? 

Scene 2 

1. What do the citizens mean by saying, "We will be 
satisfied " ? 

2. How does the word will show that the people rep- 
resent a force that must be reckoned with? What would 
shall have denoted? 



150 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

3. What reason can you find in Act I, Scene 1, for 
thinking that the people were by nature inclined to be 
hostile to the conspirators? 

4. Which citizen always took the initiative? 

5. Which one showed a marked tendency to praise 
those in authority? 

6. In what way do their utterances recall the game 
of "Follow-my-leader"? 

7. Why do you consider these citizens incapable of 
carrying out their intention to compare the reasons given 
by Brutus and Cassius? 

8. How long is Brutus' speech in comparison with 
Antony's? 

9. What is the origin of the expression ''laconic 
brevity"? 

10. Why is Brutus' speech an example of laconic 
brevity? 

11. Trace the same qualities of brevity and concise- 
ness in his speech in Act I, Scene 2, beginning, "That you 
do love me"? 

12. What lines in the preceding scene prove that Brutus 
had full confidence in his power to win the people? 

13. Was his speech an appeal to feeling or to reason? 

14. How did his manner of speaking differ from that 
of Flavius and Marullus in Act I, Scene 1? 

15. Why was prose employed for Brutus' address? 

16. Distinguish between address and oration. 

17. How did Brutus interpret the word ambitious? 
Does it carry the same implication today? 

18. Were the people always ready to swear allegiance 
to anyone who happened to be in authority? Why? 

19. If one is to judge from their exclamations after 
his speech, had their attention been centered upon Brutus 
himself or upon his argument? 

20. How does the remark "Let him be Caesar" show 
that they stupidly missed the chief point in his speech, 
and utterly misunderstood his motives? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 151 

21. How was Brutus at a disadvantage in speaking 
first? 

22. If Antony had addressed the people first, would 
Brutus have spoken at all? 

23. What mistake did he make in telling the citizens 
to stay and hear Antony? 

24. What two other mistakes had he made before this 
in dealing with Antony? 

25. Do you think Antony heard Brutus' speech? 

26. What was the attitude of the people toward An- 
tony when he began to address them? 

27. How did he show his skill as an orator in choosing 
the first word in his speech? 

28. Why did he not deny at the outset that Caesar 
was ambitious? Did he admit it? 

29. What did he imply by his artful use of the sub- 
junctive mode in Line 84? 

30. How many times did he use the word honorable in 
his entire oration? 

31. What doubt rose in the minds of the people be- 
cause of his persistent repetition of the word honorable? 

32. Did he speak this word at first with sarcastic em- 
phasis? 

33. Find the place in the oration where he first dared 
to make it ironical. 

34. Distinguish between irony and sarcasm. 

35. What three arguments did he advance to disprove 
Brutus' charge that Caesar was ambitious? 

36. Were these arguments sound? 

37. Why did he put argument first? How much argu- 
ment is to be found in the rest of his oration? 

38. Did Antony feel real sorrow over Caesar's death? 

39. Were all his expressions of grief sincere? 

40. If his sorrow had been entirely feigned would his 
oration have been more or less effective? Why? 

41. Why was the pause (Line 112) more effective than 
anything he could have said? 



152 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

42. Did Brutus pause in his speech? With what en- 
tirely different motive? 

43. Was there ''much reason" in Antony's sayings, 
as the first citizen asserted? 

44. What remarks made by the citizens prove that 
they sympathized with him and were ready to give him 
their willing attention? 

45. How had he first appealed to them for sympathy? 

46. What, other appeals for sympathy and pity did he 
make in the course of the oration? 

47. How does sympathy differ from pity? 

48. What appeal did he make to their curiosity? 
Why did he refrain again and again from satisfying that 
curiosity? 

49. To what feeling did he appeal when he said, "You 
are not wood, you are not stones, but men"? 

50. On what occasion had they been called "You 
blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things"? 

51. Where in his oration did he class the conspirators 
by themselves and associate himself and Caesar with the 
people? 

52. What did he gain by this? 

53. Did Brutus in his address resort to any such 
device? 

54. How did Antony awaken in the mob a sense of 
gratitude toward Caesar, and by emphasizing Caesar's 
generosity imply Brutus' ingratitude? 

55. What feelings were aroused in the people at the 
sight of Caesar's mantle? 

56. What purpose did he have in referring to Caesar's 
victory over the Nervii? 

57. Why did he propose to show them the body of 
Caesar? 

58. Did he show it immediately? 

59. Why did he bid them "make a ring about the 
corpse of Caesar"? 

60. Why did he come down from the pulpit? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 153 

61. What was the purpose of the familiar and reminis- 
cent tone he assumed in Lines 174-177? 

62. What feelings were aroused by his detailed and 
graphic description of Caesar's assassination? 

,63. W T hat three conspirators did he mention by name? 

64. Why did he mention Brutus last? 

65. In what way is Line 201 a climax? 

66. What degree of emotion does the exclamation 
represent? 

67. How many times did Antony make use of it in his 

entire oration? 

68. What feelings impelled the citizens to use the same 
exclamation? 

69. What does the repetition of (Lines 202-206) sug- 
gest concerning the character of the Eoman mob? 

70. Did Brutus employ in his address? 

71. Did he move the people to such an extent that 
they used it? 

72. What purpose had Antony in mind from the very 
beginning of his oration? 

73. Where did he first venture to suggest this purpose 
by his artful choice of the word' mutiny? 

74. When did he very skillfully use this word a second 
time? 

75. Find the third, and most bold and dramatic use 

of it. 

76. Find all the places where the mob voices its in- 
tention to resort to violence. 

77. Can you prove that Antony was able to accomplish 
his purpose with the mob before he disclosed Caesar's 
bequests? 

78. Why had he held this information in reserve for 
so long? In what sense was it his "trump card"? 

79. How many dollars had Caesar left to each citizen? 

80. What other public bequest did he make? 

81. In the final speech of the fourth citizen which 
word denotes the highest degree of recklessness? 



154 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

82. How does the speech uttered by Antony after the 
mob departed indicate that his oration has been a clever 
piece of acting? 

83. What had the arrival of Octavius at this juncture 
to do with the plot? Who was Lepidus? 

84. What news concerning Brutus and Cassius was 
brought by the servant? 

85. How was the prophecy of Trebonius (Act II, Scene 
1, line 191) fulfilled in a manner unforeseen by the con- 
spirators? 

86. Which one of the conspirators feared Antony's 
power from the beginning? 

Subject for class discussion or debate: Resolved, That 
Antony loved Caesar sincerely. 

Scene 3 

1. What dream troubled the mind of Cinna? 

2. How does his first speech resemble Shylock's in 
Act I, Scene 5, of the Merchant of Venice, where he says: 

"Jessica, my girl, 
Look to my house. — I am right loath to go; 
There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, 
For I did dream of money-bags to-night. " 

3. What four questions were put to Cinna by the en- 
raged citizens? 

4. Which of his answers was the signal for an attack 
upon him? 

5. Why did they kill Cinna? 

6. Show that the relationship between Scenes 2 and 3 
is that of cause and effect. 

7. How do the closing lines of this scene show that 
Caesar's spirit was triumphing? 

8. Study carefully the following speech of King 
James V of Scotland from Scott's Lady of the Lake 
(Canto V):— 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 155 

'* 'O Lennox, who would wish to rule 

This changeling crowd, this common fool? 

Hear'st thou', he said, 'the loud acclaim 

With which they shout the Douglas' name? 

With like acclaim the vulgar throat 

Strained for King James their morning note; 

With like acclaim they hailed the day 

When first I broke the Douglas' sway; 

And like acclaim would Douglas greet 

If he could hurl me from my seat. 

Who o'er the crowd would wish to reign, 

Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? 

Vain as the leaf upon the stream, 

And fickle as a changeful dream; 

Fantastic as a woman's mood, 

And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. 

Thou many-headed monster-thing, 

O, who would wish to be thy king?' " 

9. After studying the words fantastic, fickle, -fierce, 
and vain with the help of the dictionary, select lines from 
Acts I, II, and III to prove that each of these adjectives 
describes the Roman people. 



ACT IV 

Scene 1 

1. What is a triumvirate? 

2. What triumvirate was in power? 

3. Which triumvir appeared most dictatorial? Why? 

4. In what sense is this scene a reaction? 

5. How much time has elapsed between Act III and 
Act IV? 

6. What was proscription? What was the motive for 
it in this case? 

7. In the discussion over proscription is there any 
indication that one of the triumvirs will eventually gain 
supremacy over the others? 



156 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

>. What Slsreepeet — as shown toward 3&esar by 

Ante i 

motive now seems U govern Ant: 
tions instead of his former avowed intention to 
[ . tes u s leathl 

10. How might the motive of revenge be likened to a 

11. "Why did Antony send Lepidus for Caesar's will? 

12. "What new light is thrown on Antony's : _;.:;.oter 
by his attempt to discredit Lepidv 

13. "What evidence can you find in former scenes to 
show that Antony was unht to rule? 

14. "What admirable qualities did Octavius reveal? 

15. Mention all the circumstances that would tend to 
f the rule of the triumvirs unpopular. 

16. "What lines indicate that they were by no means 
firmly establish e 

17. "What news do we get of the plans of Brutus and 

IS. "What two metaphors did Octavius employ in his 
last speech to enforce the idea of peril? 

19. "What figure of speech is found in the expression 
* ' millions of mischiefs ' ' ? 

20. Why is z.^urative language so forcible? 

Subjects for discussion : 1. Antony was more fit to rule 
than Lepidus. 

.. An absolute monarchy is preferable to a triumvirate. 

- 2KN1 _ 

1. "Why doe- the setting of Scene 2 promise to furnish 
more dramatic interest than we found in Scene 1? 

.. What sort of action is suggested by the words 
camp and teat? 

3. "Where was Sar 

■4. Is your interest in the play now concerned with 
the career of the triumvirate or the fortunes of Brutus 
and C 



NOTES AXD COMMENTS 157 

5. How did the duties of Lucius differ from those of 
Lucilius ? 

6. "Who was Cassius' servant? 

7. What words spoken by Brutus seem to indicate 
that Pindarus had just presented a letter from Cassius? 

8. "What chance for a dramatic j>ause is always af- 
forded by the delivery of a letter ? 

9. Can you recall previous instances of the effective- 
ness of pauses in this play? 

10. Is Shakespeare fond of announcing an arrival by 
means of a letter or a messenger? 

11. "What is the dramatic effect of such an announce- 
ment? 

12. Eind four instances of its use in previous scenes? 

13. What evidences are there of a misunderstanding 
between Brutus and Cassius? 

14. How was such a misunderstanding prophetic of the 
failure of their cause? 

15. "What example of metonymy is found in this 
speech: — 

"They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter 'd; 
The greater part, the horse in general, 
Are come with Cassius. ' ' 

16. Which of the two leaders was more vehement at 
the beginning of their conference? 

17. Why did Brutus propose that they withdraw into 
the tent? 

18. On what previous occasion were those present kept 
from hearing what Cassius and Brutus had to say to each 
other f 

19. What similarity is there between Scenes 1 and 2? 

20. What orders issued by Brutus and Cassius arouse 
our keen interest in the following scene? 

Scene 3 

1. Why is the prospect of a quarrel interesting? 

2. Recount the reasons for the quarrel. 



158 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 



3. How did the incident of Lucius Pella reveal the 
strict integrity of Brutus? 

4. Was Cassius a true patriot or a time-server? 

5. Can you in any way justify the methods of Cassius? 

6. Where before did he resort to unworthy or ques- 
tionable methods? 

7. Was he more or less justifiable in using those meth- 
ods then than in resorting to bribery now? Why? 

8. Is there any truth in the saying, "All is fair in 
love and war"? 

9. What feelings did Cassius probably have when he 
spoke the word chastisement? 

10. Which man showed greater self-control throughout 
the quarrel? 

11. Did Cassius claim to be a better soldier than 
Brutus ? 

12. What made Brutus assert that Cassius had made 
this claim? 

13. How was Brutus inconsistent in his chief charge 
against Cassius? 

14. Did Cassius really love Brutus? 

15. What feelings prompted Cassius to utter the pa- 
thetic appeal beginning, ' ' Come, Antony, and young Oc- 
tavius, come"? 

16. What reason had each from his own view-point to 
be angry with the other? 

17. Which man first showed a disposition toward rec- 
onciliation? Why? 

18. How did the intrusion of the poet help still further 
to reconcile them? 

19. Give two reasons to account for the great change 
in Brutus. 

20. How does the quarrel increase your admiration for 
both Brutus and Cassius? 

21. How might Brutus feel personally responsible for 
Portia's death? 

22. How did she die? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 159 

23. What other act of hers is recalled by the manner 
of her death? 

24. Was Portia a Stoic? 

25. Taking as a topic the saying, li Still waters run 
deep, ' ' can you give an exposition of Brutus ' attitude 
toward Portia's death, and illustrate it with references 
from this. scene? 

26. Do you think Brutus w T as unfeeling when he said: — 
"Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine." 

27. Where was Philippi? 

28. Why was Brutus anxious to march to Philippi and 
engage in a decisive battle? 

29. What was Cassius' argument against Brutus' plan? 

30. Which was the better plan? Why? 

31. What poetic justice was there in the death of 
Cicero? 

32. How does the scene between Brutus and Lucius 
offer relief after the quarrel? 

33. When before did Lucius fall asleep? 

34. How did Brutus show his generosity and gentleness 
in dealing with his servant and soldiers? 

35. How do you account for the absent-mindedness of 
Brutus with reference to the book? 

36. Is there anything ridiculous in the idea of a philo- 
sopher and bookworm attempting to lead an army to suc- 
cess? Why? 

37. In what sense was Brutus entirely alone when the 
ghost entered? 

38. What was the first indication of a supernatural 
presence? 

39. To what did Brutus at first attribute the appari- 
tion? 

40. Why was his state of mind sufficient to evoke such 
an apparition? 

41. Why is the waning of the taper effective? 

42. What prophecy did the ghost utter? 

43. Why did the ghost appear to Brutus, instead of to 
Cassius, Caesar's sworn enemy? 



160 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

44. Why was the meaningful phrase "At Philippi" 
spoken three times? 

45. What three circumstances in this scene foreshad- 
owed disaster to the cause of Brutus? 

46. Why did he impatiently waken the sleepers? 

47. Why was Brutus more eager than ever for action? 

48. At the end of Act IV what outcome do we feel is 
inevitable? 

49. With whom do you chiefly sympathize? Why? 



ACT V 

Scene 1 

1. Where is this scene laid? 

2. In what sense is the plot practically completed with 
Act IV? 

3. What is the gist of the conference between Oc- 
tavius and Antony? 

4. Which of the two was more autocratic? 

5. Explain the apparent contradiction in the phrase 
' ' with fearful bravery. ' ' 

6. Which of the two warring factions decided to act 
on the defensive? 

7. How did the four generals taunt each other? 

8. Which general had assumed leadership on each 
side? How do you know? 

9. How do Lines 33-34 recall Antony's oration? 

10. What two occasions did Cassius recall when he told 
Brutus that he had only himself to thank for Antony's 
insults? 

11. Was Octavius justified in calling Brutus a traitor? 

12. Why did Antony exclaim "Old Cassius still"? 

13. How old do you judge Octavius to be? Why? 

14. How do you account for the fact that Octavius 
was so eager to engage in battle? 

15. What ill omens had Cassius observed on the march 
from Sardis? 






NOTES AND COMMENTS 161 

16. On what occasion was the ambitious Caesar likened 
to a bird of prey? 

17. Did Brutus probably have some such comparison 
in mind in Act II, Scene 1, line 118? 

18. On what occasion did Casca relate how "the bird 
of night did sit even at noonday upon the market-place, 
hooting and shrieking"? 

19. What dramatic value have omens, signs, and super- 
natural phenomena? 

20. While Cassius was talking with Messala, what do 
you imagine Brutus was saying to Lucilius? 

21. Why did Brutus and Cassius take leave of each 
other? 

22. Why is the farewell pathetic? 

23. Which man felt keener emotion at parting? Why? 

24. What spirit in both men do you admire? 

Scene 2 

1. What is the setting for this scene? 

2. What scene in Lew Wallace 's novel ' ' Ben Hur ' ' is 
recalled by Brutus' first four words? 

3. Why is Scene 2 more interesting than Scene 1? 

4. Make a plan of the battle-field showing the rela- 
tive positions of the four generals. 

5. What orders did Brutus give to Messala? 

Scene 3 

1. While Brutus was advancing upon Octavius, what 
had befallen Cassius? 

2. Upon what errand was Titinius sent? 

3. Does Cassius' remark "My sight was ever thick" 
have any bearing on the plot? How? 

4. Where before did Cassius mention the fact that that 
day was his birthday? 

5. What significance did he attach to the fact? 

6. After Pindarus had gone higher up the hill, what 
prophetic remark did Cassius make concerning himself? 

7. What did Pindarus report of the fate of Titinius? 



162 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

8. Did Cassius have any faith in the generalship of 
Brutus? 

9. Did Cassius die a coward's death? 

10. What caused him to commit such a desperate act? 

11. What prompted him to mention Caesar in' the last 
moment of life? 

12. Why do you think he welcomed death? 

13. Why did not Pindarus refuse to slay Cassius? 

14. What news was Titinius bringing back to Cassius? 

15. Why were the setting sun and the waning light of 
day a fitting background for the death of Cassius? 

16. What tragic mistake had Cassius made? 

17. Who went to report the death of Cassius to 
Brutus? 

18. What two reasons can you find for concluding that 
Titinius loved Cassius more than Pindarus did? 

19. Would Titinius have refused to slay Cassius? 

20. What reference to Caesar shows that Brutus had 
come to a full realization of the failure of his enterprise? 

21. Do you think he still thought he was fighting for 
a just cause? 

22. Was Brutus demonstrative in his sorrow over the 
death of Cassius? 

23. What other instance can you cite of similar be- 
havior on his part? 

Scene 4 

1. How did Brutus show extraordinary courage in 
venturing a second battle? 

2. What spirit do you admire in young Cato? 

3. Who was Marcus Cato? 

4. Did Cato exhibit more or less bravery than 
Titinius ? 

5. What shows that Lucilius was eager to die? 

6. Why did he assert that he was Brutus? 

7. What prophetic assertion did Lucilius make con- 
cerning Brutus? 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 163 

8. What tribute did Antony pay to Lucilius, and what 
prompted it? 

Scene 5 

1. What " poor remains of friends" gathered around 
Brutus at the last? 

2. What circumstance at the beginning of the scene 
denotes that night had come on? 

3. Why was the darkness of night an appropriate 
background for the downfall of Brutus? 

4. In what way was the terrific storm that accompa- 
nied the inception of the enterprise in Act I prophetic of 
its tragic termination? 

5. On what various grounds was Brutus justified in 
seeking death? 

6. What men refused to kill him? Why? 

7. Why did Brutus weep? 

8. What did he say about the ghost of Caesar? 

9. Why is his appeal to Volumnius especially pathetic? 

10. What ominous sound was heard while he talked 
with Volumnius? How many times was it heard? 

11. Why had Strato fallen asleep? 

12. Was this an evidence of his lack of affection for 
Brutus? 

13. Have you reasons to show that he loved and re- 
spected Brutus? 

14. In comparing the death scenes of Brutus and Cas- 
sius what differences and what similarities do you note? 

15. How had Brutus "proved Lucilius' saying true"? 

16. How did Octavius show a spirit of generosity? 

17. Do you agree to Antony's estimate of Brutus? 

18. What does the word "field" suggest in Line 80? 

19. Why is this metonymy? 

20. What indications have you noticed of the increas- 
ing authority of Octavius? 

21. How does this point to the re-establishment of an 
imperial government? 



164 NOTES AND COMMENTS 

22. Why had the struggle against imperialism proved 
futile? 

23. In what way were the people of Eome the deter- 
mining factor in the struggle? 

24. Under what circumstances might a republican gov- 
ernment have been established? 



GENEKAL QUESTIONS 

1. What is tragedy? 

2. Who are the chief tragic characters in the play? 

3. Account for the downfall of each. 

4. In what sense was the life of Brutus victorious? 

5. Has the turmoil and tragic conflict presaged by 
Act I, Scene 1, been logically realized throughout the play; 
in other words, is the whole play in tune with the key- 
note? 

6. What is meant by poetic justice? 

7. Why would it have been contrary to poetic justice 
for Brutus to have finally conquered? 

8. How much of the play is introductory? How much 
comprises the rising action? Where is the climax? What 
part of the play constitutes the falling action? Where is 
the catastrophe? 

9. What is the theme of the play? 

10. How do you justify the title of the play? 



W3g 




»o 







*bv» 






V 





<£ ^. V<</.MW A*"*. 



>fc ^ .Wat 



^ 






° » i * A 
% °o ST -• 












o » • 








V 



;• ^ 



o • * 



ft 














*<k 



-. C Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process, 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Feb. 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 
111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 









- "by 






l *o. 




.4 3* 

















» • * 






• „ o 




0*0 






4* V ^* •-° A <fr "" 




^^v- ^ 



^VV^TB 




° 4~ 

"of 










> o ' 



ft. v>* .>v^-. **..^ •' 






